LIBRARY 

OF    THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 
Class 


THE    ORGANIZATION    OF  AGRICULTURE 


THE  ORGANIZATION 
OF  AGRICULTURE 


BY  EDWIN   A.   PRATT 

AUTHOR  OF  "AMERICAN  RAILWAYS" 
"TRADE  UNIONISM  AND  BRITISH  INDUSTRY" 

"LEADING    POINTS  IN   SOUTH   AFRICAN   HISTORY" 
ETC. 


NEW  YORK 

E.   P.   BUTTON  AND   COMPANY 
1904 


P4 


Printed  in  Great  Britain 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

INTRODUCTION             .  .  vii 

I.  THE  RAILWAYS  AND  AGRICULTURE        .         .  i 

II.  A  DISSERTATION  ON  EGGS  .  .         .12 

III.  AGRICULTURAL  ORGANIZATION  IN  DENMARK  .  25 

IV.  GERMANY    .                .  .             .         .  41 
V.   FRANCE      .                .  57 

VI.   BELGIUM     .                 .  ...  88 

VII.   ITALY          .                 .  ...  105 

VIII.   HOLLAND    .                 .  ...  125 

IX.   HUNGARY    .                 .  .             .         .  141 

X.  AUSTRIA      .                 .  ...  165 

XI.  SWITZERLAND             .  .             .         .  170 

XII.   SWEDEN  AND  NORWAY  .             .         .  176 

XIII.  FINLAND      .                 .  ...  183 

XIV.  SIBERIA       .                 .  ...  197 
XVr  SERVIA        .                 .  ...  208 

XVI.  POLAND      .                 .  .                      .  215 

XVII.   LUXEMBURG                .  ...  221 

XVIII.  THE  UNITED  STATES  .             .         .  225 

XIX.  ARGENTINA                  .  ...  236 

XX.  CANADA      .                .  ...  240 

XXI.  AUSTRALASIA               .  ...  258 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  1'AGE 

XXII.  IRELAND                      .                 .             .  269 

XXIII.  ENGLAND  AND  WALES               .            .  .  289 

XXIV.  A  GERMAN  VIEW  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE  316 
XXV.  Do  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS?  .     327 

XXVI.  CONCLUSION  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS    .  .     364 


INDEX 


393 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  matter  contained  in  the  present  volume 
represents  a  substantial  expansion  of  a  series 
of  four  articles  on  "  The  Organization  of  Agri- 
culture," published  in  The  Times  at  Easter,  1904. 
The  information  then  given  as  to  conditions  in 
Denmark,  Germany,  France,  Belgium,  Italy, 
Holland,  Finland,  and  England  and  Wales  has 
been  considerably  amplified,  while  the  details 
contained  in  the  chapters  headed  "A  Dissertation 
on  Eggs,"  "Hungary,"  "Austria,"  "Switzerland," 
"  Sweden  and  Norway,"  "  Siberia,"  "  Servia," 
"Poland,"  "Luxemburg,"  "The  United  States," 
"Argentina,"  "Canada,"  "Australasia,"  "Ire- 
land," and  "  A  German  View  of  English  Agri- 
culture "  are  now  presented  for  the  first  time. 

How  the  work  came  to  be  undertaken  is 
sufficiently  explained  in  the  opening  chapter. 
The  inquiry  instituted  covered  so  much  ground 
that  the  task  to  be  accomplished  seemed  to  be 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

one  which  called  for  the  combined  energies  of  a 
Royal  Commission,  rather  than  one  that  might 
legitimately  be  regarded  as  within  the  scope  of 
an  individual  investigator.  But  a  Royal  Com- 
mission would  have  been  difficult  to  get ;  its 
inquiry  into  such  a  subject  would  have  extended 
over  a  considerable  period,  and  the  results  would 
have  been  stated  in  ponderous  Blue-books,  which 
the  persons  most  concerned  would  probably  never 
have  read.  In  these  circumstances  there  seemed 
to  be  advantages  in  the  direction  of  dealing  with 
the  subject  at  once  from  a  more  popular  stand- 
point, and  in  such  a  way  as  would  have  a  better 
chance  of  reaching  the  interests  affected,  even 
though  the  treatment  of  the  matter  might  be  less 
exhaustive  than  that  which  it  would  have  received 
at  the  hands  of  official  inquirers. 

Avowedly,  therefore,  the  present  volume  at- 
tempts to  give  no  more  than  a  general  survey  of 
that  movement  in  favour  of  agricultural  organi- 
zation which,  as  will  be  seen,  is  now  spreading 
practically  throughout  the  civilized  world.  Severe 
compression  has  had  to  be  adopted  in  order  to 
get  such  a  survey  within  the  limits  of  a  single 
volume  of  modest  proportions,  and  much  that 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

would  have  been  of  interest  to  the  student  of 
economics  has  necessarily  had  to  be  omitted.  In 
fact,  in  many  of  the  countries  dealt  with  the 
agricultural  revival  now  proceeding  there  is  so 
interesting  in  itself,  and  of  such  importance  from 
the  economic  standpoint,  that  a  separate  volume 
might  be  devoted  to  each  of  them.  There  is, 
indeed,  abundant  scope  to-day  for  the  enterprise 
of  some  twentieth-century  Arthur  Young,  who 
would  make  a  tour  du  monde  hi  order  to  fully 
describe  what  the  following  pages  can  do  little 
more  than  indicate — the  position,  namely,  of 
"  The  New  Agriculture,"  and  the  effect  thereof 
on  both  the  material  and  the  social  conditions  of 
the  peoples  of  the  world. 

Thus  the  subject  has  much  wider  ramifications 
than  any  issue  as  between  railway  and  agricultural 
interests,  and  I  have  here  sought  to  deal  with  it 
from  the  broader  as  well  as  from  the  narrower  point 
of  view.  Whether  or  not  the  conclusions  at  which 
I  have  arrived,  as  set  out  on  pages  390-1,  are  war- 
ranted the  reader  must  say  for  himself;  but  in  any 
case  the  information  here  brought  together,  from 
so  many  different  sources,  should  prove  an  ac- 
ceptable contribution  to  the  available  sources  of 


x  INTRODUCTION 

knowledge  on  a  subject  of  world -wide  and  steadily 
increasing  interest. 

I  have  now  only  to  add  that  further  develop- 
ments, brought  about  as  these  pages  are  passing 
through  the  Press,  modify  one  or  two  of  the 
statements  made  in  the  body  of  the  work.  It  is, 
for  instance,  no  longer  the  fact  that,  as  I  say  on 
page  307,  England  has  only  local  co-operative 
agricultural  societies,  whereas  Wales  has  a 
"Welsh  Farmers'  Federation."  This  assertion 
was  true  enough  when  I  wrote  it,  and  wht  i  the 
printers  printed  it ;  but  a  conference  of  repre- 
sentatives of  agricultural  co-operative  societies  in 
Worcestershire  and  neighbouring  counties  has 
since  formed  a  "  Midland  Agricultural  Co-oper- 
ative Federation "  for  the  purposes  alike  of 
combined  purchase  and  combined  sale.  Arrange- 
ments, I  hear,  are  also  being  made  to  federate 
the  Yorkshire  societies.  Then  on  page  380  I 
have  suggested  that  "  it  may  be  found  desirable 
to  amalgamate  the  Agricultural  Organization 
Society  and  the  Co-operative  Banks  Association, 
so  as  to  give  greater  force  to  the  efforts  that 
each  is  making."  The  bodies  concerned  have 
not  waited  for  this  recommendation  to  appear 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

in  print.  They  have  anticipated  it  by  already 
amalgamating.  I  would  further  avail  myself  of 
this  opportunity  to  say  that  the  author  of  Les 
Associations  Agricoles  en  Belgique,  referred  to 
on  pages  95  and  96,  should  have  been  given  as 
M.  Max  Turmann,  and  not  as  M.  Victor  Le- 
coffre,  and  that,  by  a  slip  of  the  pen,  I  have,  on 
page  295,  given  the  town  of  Newark  as  in  Lin- 
colnshire, instead  of  Nottinghamshire. 

EDWIN  A.  PRATT 

LONDON,  April,  1904 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF 
AGRICULTURE 

CHAPTER  I 

THE   RAILWAYS   AND 
AGRICULTURE 

T)ETWEEN  the  British  farmer  and  the 
-U  British  railways  there  has  for  years  past 
been  a  certain  amount  of  friction.  The  farmer 
has  alleged  a  variety  of  grievances  against  the 
railways,  and  the  railways,  in  return,  have  not 
hesitated  to  discuss  the  shortcomings  of  the 
farmer ;  but  hitherto  there  has  been  little  hope 
of  a  common  understanding  between  them,  and 
meanwhile  the  condition  of  British  agriculture 
has  been  going  from  bad  to  worse. 

Representations  have  been  made  that  the 
railways  are  seeking  to  cripple  British  agricul- 
ture ;  but  a  moment's  reflection  must  suffice  to 
show  how  absolutely  foolish  and  short-sighted 
such  a  policy  would  be.  The  increased  prosperity 


2  THE   RAILWAYS   AND   AGRICULTURE 

of  a  country  district  means  far  more  to  a  British 
railway  company  than  the  carriage  of  a  larger 
quantity  of  agricultural  produce  therefrom.  It 
means  greater  traffic  to  the  district  in  the  shape 
of  seeds,  manures,  feeding-stuffs,  implements,  and 
agricultural  machinery  before  the  return  freight 
in  the  shape  of  actual  produce  is  ready.  It  means 
that  more  families  will  settle  in  those  districts, 
and  that  with  every  additional  family  there  will 
be  greater  need  for  the  transport  of  furniture, 
food,  clothing,  and  countless  other  household 
necessaries.  It  means  that  as  the  income  of  the 
family  increases  they  will  be  able  to  afford 
domestic  luxuries  in  the  shape  of  pianos,  carriages, 
and  other  such  things,  which  will  probably  be 
bought  "  in  town  "  and  carried  on  the  railway ; 
and  it  means,  also,  that  more  individuals  will 
travel  to  and  from  the  districts  in  question,  and 
thus  swell  the  receipts  from  passenger  traffic.  In 
these  and  other  ways  the  British  railways  have  a 
direct  and  very  important  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  British  agriculture.  Indeed,  as  shown  by  the 
considerations  just  presented,  they  have  much 
more  to  hope  for  from  carrying  a  given  quantity 
of  British  produce  than  they  have  from  simply 
bringing  from  the  coast  to  an  inland  town  a 
corresponding  amount  of  foreign  produce,  which 
represents,  for  them,  only  a  single  transaction. 


WHOLESALE   AND   RETAIL  3 

Here,  of  course,  the  whole  point  depends  on 
the  words  "  corresponding  amount,"  the  actual 
fact  being  that  the  quantities  of  agricultural 
produce  coming  to  this  country  from  abroad, 
and  carried  on  our  railways,  are  greatly  in  excess 
of  those  that  our  own  farmers  can,  or  do,  supply. 
It  is  this  factor  that  lies  at  the  bottom  of  most 
of  the  grievances  alleged  against  the  railways 
by  British  agriculturists,  who  do  not  always 
sufficiently  realize  the  differences  which  must 
necessarily  exist,  even  in  regard  to  railway  rates, 
between  wholesale  and  retail ;  and  if  only  the 
British  farmer  could,  under  any  possible  circum- 
stances, put  himself  on  the  same  footing  as  the 
foreign  agriculturists  in  respect  alike  to  quantity 
and  conditions  of  particular  items  of  produce,  he 
would  secure  the  same  advantages  as  they  do, 
and  the  railways  themselves  would  also  gain, 
both  directly  and  indirectly. 

In  all  these  circumstances  the  time  would 
seem  to  have  come  for  abandoning  any  idea 
of  antagonism  or  even  of  want  of  sympathy 
between  interests  which  are  so  obviously  iden- 
tical, and  for  seeing  whether  some  clearer  under- 
standing in  regard  to  actual  facts,  conditions 
and  possibilities  cannot  be  arrived  at  which  will 
be  good  for  the  farmers,  good  for  the  railways, 
and  good  for  the  country.  To  this  end,  on 


4  THE   RAILWAYS   AND   AGRICULTURE 

the  completion  of  my  book  on  the  subject  of 
American  Railways,  I  undertook  a  mission  to 
make  an  unprejudiced  inquiry  into  the  "ano- 
malies "  and  other  grievances  alleged  in  regard 
to  the  operation  of  British  railways — especially 
from  the  agricultural  standpoint — and  also  into 
the  conditions  existing  in  various  Continental 
countries. 

After  investigations  carried  on  in  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland,  I  started  on  my  inquiries 
abroad  with  the  idea  mainly  of  instituting  com- 
parisons between  English  and  foreign  railway 
rates,  and  I  learned  how,  in  most  of  the  foreign 
countries  where  the  railways  are  owned  or  con- 
trolled by  the  State,  the  low  rates  in  respect  to 
goods  for  export  (with  which  inland  railway 
rates  in  this  country  are  so  often  compared) 
are  mainly  the  result — apart  from  the  question 
of  rivalry  between  ports — either  of  the  highly 
organized  condition  of  trades,  and  especially  of 
agriculture,  which  leads  to  the  consignment  of 
goods  to  the  railways  in  waggon-loads,  and,  in 
some  cases,  even  in  train-loads ;  or  of  what  is 
practically  a  bounty  on  the  export  of  agricul- 
tural produce  or  manufactured  articles  in  the 
interests  of  the  country.  I  found  concerning 
Germany  that  the  profits  derived  from  the  State 
railways  are  regarded  by  the  Government  as  a 


CONTINENTAL   RAILWAY   CONDITIONS          5 

source  of  revenue,  to  the  extent  of  which  the 
Ministers  are  independent  of  Reichstag  votes  ; 
that  the  development  of  the  State  railways,  so 
as  to  meet  present-day  conditions — on  the  lines 
on  which  an  English  or  an  American  railway 
company  would  have  developed  them — has  been 
retarded  because  a  generous  expenditure  would 
have  interfered  with  the  finances  of  the  State ; 
and  that  while  the  Government  have  granted 
extremely  low  rates  for  goods  or  produce  for 
export  (especially  when  such  traffic  might  other- 
wise go  via  Belgium  or  Holland),  they  have  been 
far  less  generous  to  home  traders,  who  have 
found  it  a  matter  of  extreme  difficulty  to  get 
reductions  in  local  rates,  either  because  the  con- 
dition of  the  State  finances  would  not  allow  of 
them,  or  because  the  State  officials  were  afraid 
of  arousing  the  jealousies  of  rival  districts.  I 
found  in  Belgium  that  the  rates  not  only  for 
export,  but  also  for  inland,  traffic  were  distinctly 
low;  but  I  learned,  too,  that  there  were  very 
grave  doubts  indeed  if  the  railways  of  that 
country  could  be  said  to  represent  in  themselves 
a  commercially  sound  institution,  however  use- 
ful may  be  the  role  which,  in  various  ways,  they 
play  as  part  of  the  political  machine  of  the 
country.  I  found  in  France  the  same  keen 
desire  as  in  other  Continental  countries  to 


6  THE   RAILWAYS   AND   AGRICULTURE 

facilitate  exports — particularly  to  Great  Britain 
— by  conceding  specially  low  rates  for  agricul- 
tural produce  or  ordinary  merchandise  going 
abroad,  while  the  rates  to  inland  towns  were 
substantially  higher ;  though  the  great  French 
railway  companies  need  have  less  fear  about 
giving  low  rates  for  exports,  considering  that 
their  payment  of  interest  is  guaranteed  by  the 
State.  I  found  in  Holland  that  the  railway 
rates  are  low  mainly  because  inland  water  com- 
petition exists  there  to  an  extent  unknown  in 
any  other  country  in  Europe.  Finally  I  found 
in  Denmark  that  the  State  reduced  the  rates 
on  its  lines  of  railway  in  1897  owing  to  an  out- 
cry on  the  part  of  the  agriculturists.  They 
learned  that  there  was  actually  a  profit  of  2  per 
cent,  being  made  on  the  railways,  and  this 
profit,  they  declared,  ought  to  be  returned  to 
the  "people."  But  under  the  altered  conditions 
thus  brought  about  the  lines  have  since  barely 
paid  their  way,  and  the  rates  had,  consequently, 
to  be  raised  again,  the  new  tariff  coming  into 
force  on  July  1st,  1903. 

On  these  and  many  other  similar  points  there 
is  much  that  might  be  said  as  to  the  absolute 
impracticability  of  making  fair  comparisons  be- 
tween British  and  Continental  railways,  and  I 
hope  to  have  the  opportunity  of  discussing  them 


THE   FOREIGNER'S   BIG   LOADS  7 

in  greater  detail  on  a  future  occasion.  But 
while  I  was  pursuing  my  inquiries  in  these  direc- 
tions, the  cardinal  fact  that  was  always  being 
brought  to  my  attention  was  that  the  agricul- 
turist abroad  was  not  a  mere  unit,  as  he  is  in 
this  country,  but  a  member  of  a  highly  and 
skilfully  organized  combination  which  could 
not  only  dispose  of  its  production  in  big  loads, 
but  was  also  able  to  purchase  its  necessary  sup- 
plies in  such  large  amounts  as  to  secure  a 
substantial  reduction  alike  in  their  cost  and  in 
railway  rates  for  their  transportation. 

This  fact  led  me  to  make  a  careful  study  of 
the  conditions  of  agriculture  abroad,  and  to  seek 
with  great  minuteness  for  the  answer  to  the 
question  constantly  before  my  mind  :  "  How  is 
it  that  the  foreigners  are  able  to  send  us  such  big 
loads  ?  Are  there  any  special  advantages  they 
possess  which  might  be  secured  by  the  British 
farmer  as  a  means  of  improving  his  own  posi- 
tion?" And  the  more  I  inquired  the  more  I 
was  met  by  this  striking  fact :  That  in  every  one 
of  the  countries  now  pouring  their  agricultural 
produce  into  Great  Britain  there  has  been  an 
agricultural  revival  which  has  led  to  the  spread- 
ing throughout  each  of  them  of  a  more  or  less 
complete  network  of  agricultural  organization, 
manifesting  itself,  in  varying  degrees,  in  the 


8  THE   RAILWAYS   AND   AGRICULTURE 

spread  of  agricultural  education,  and  in  combina- 
tions among  the  agricultural  community  for  an 
endless  variety  of  purposes,  including  the  virtual 
transformation  of  farming  methods  in  accord- 
ance with  the  latest  developments  of  agricul- 
tural science ;  organizations  for  obtaining  agri- 
cultural necessaries  of  reliable  qualities  at 
lesser  cost ;  the  purchase  in  common  of  costly 
machinery  which  would  otherwise  be  beyond 
the  means  of  a  small  cultivator ;  the  formation 
of  co-operative  societies  for  purposes  both  of 
production  and  of  sale ;  the  setting  up  of  agri- 
cultural credit  banks  as  a  means  of  keeping  the 
farmer  out  of  the  hands  of  the  usurer,  and 
enabling  him  to  carry  on  his  operations  more 
successfully ;  and  the  improvement  of  the  indi- 
vidual lot  of  the  agriculturist  in  many  different 
ways.  The  special  circumstances  in  which  this 
network  of  organization  has  been  developed  differ 
in  each  particular  country,  and  it  is  a  funda- 
mental principle  of  the  movement,  regarded  as  a 
whole,  that  not  only  has  each  of  the  countries 
concerned  differed  from  every  other  in  establish- 
ing agricultural  organizations  suited  to  its 
national  conditions,  but  the  greatest  degree  of 
success  has  been  obtained  where  the  associations 
have  been  started  on  a  very  small  scale  in  rural 
districts  to  meet  local,  or  even  strictly  parochial, 


RESULTS   OF   ORGANIZATION   ABROAD          9 

conditions,  and,  while  maintaining  their  indi- 
vidual entity,  have  afterwards  combined  with 
other  similar  bodies  to  form  district,  county,  or 
even  national  federations  for  the  attainment  of 
common  advantages. 

The  direct  results  of  these  new  conditions  have 
been  to  cheapen  and  to  increase  production  in 
the  countries  concerned  ;  to  facilitate,  and  there- 
fore to  economise,  the  despatch  of  the  greater 
quantities  of  produce  available  for  export ;  and 
to  so  far  improve  the  general  position  of  the 
foreign  producers  that  while  Great  Britain — the 
land  whose  agriculturists  have  been  the  slowest 
of  any  in  resorting  to  all  this  organized  effort — 
is  still  in  the  throes  of  agricultural  depression, 
other  countries  which  have  reorganized  their 
methods  are  proclaiming  that  the  trials  they  also 
have  had  to  experience  have  now,  more  or  less, 
been  surmounted.  Further  than  this,  not  only 
are  the  said  countries  gaining  or  regaining  agri- 
cultural prosperity,  but  it  is  to  England — back- 
ward as  she  is  in  all  the  things  which  have 
brought  them  success — that  they  would  seem  to 
be  looking,  with  one  common  accord,  as  a 
purchaser  of  produce  from  their  own  super- 
abundance. 

It  is  foreign  to  my  purpose  here  to  enter  in 
any  degree  whatever  into  the  controversy  on 


io         THE   RAILWAYS   AND   AGRICULTURE 

the  fiscal  problem,  and  I  wish  to  remain  abso- 
lutely impartial  and  free  from  prejudice  in  what 
I  say.  But  I  do  think  the  country  should  realise 
that,  whatever  policy  may  eventually  be  adopted 
on  the  subject  of  food  imports,  there  is  need  for 
a  serious  consideration  of  the  question  whether 
the  methods  under  which  the  British  farmer 
carries  on  his  enterprises  do  not  stand  in  need 
of  revision,  especially  in  view  of  the  lines  upon 
which  his  foreign  competitors  are  operating.  This 
problem  would,  indeed,  remain  even  if  the  most 
generous  degree  of  "  protection  "  for  which  our 
agriculturists  could  hope  were  granted  to  them. 

To  help  in  its  solution  I  propose  to  deal 
seriatim  with  different  countries  on  the  Con- 
tinent of  Europe,  and  elsewhere,  showing  what 
is  being  done  there  for  the  organization  of 
agriculture  in  respect  either  to  actual  co-opera- 
tion or  to  such  grouping  of  consignments  as 
still  leads  to  the  big  loads  that  our  railway 
companies  are  called  upon  to  handle.  To  con- 
fine myself,  for  the  time  being,  to  this  one  aspect 
of  a  very  wide  subject  may,  I  think,  serve  a 
purpose  of  greater  utility  and  more  immediate 
interest  than  if  I  entered  at  once  on  that  more 
general  discussion  of  British  v.  Continental  rail- 
way rates  and  conditions  which,  as  I  have  said, 
formed  the  original  object  of  my  inquiries. 


THE   GENERAL   POSITION  n 

Before,  however,  commencing  this  series  of 
studies  of  individual  countries,  I  should  like  to 
illustrate  the  general  position  in  regard  to  the 
aforesaid  big  loads  from  the  Continent  by  taking 
a  single  item  of  produce — that  of  eggs,  which 
so  many  lands  combine  to  send  us  in  quantities 
so  great — showing  by  this  one  example  how 
such  loads  may  be  got  together,  and  what,  as 
regards  the  particular  item  in  question,  the 
position  both  of  British  railways  and  of  British 
farmers  is  in  relation  thereto. 


CHAPTER  II 
A  DISSERTATION  ON  EGGS 


fact  that  English  railway  companies 
-L  carry  over  their  lines  large  quantities  of 
foreign  eggs  at  lower  rates  than  the  British 
farmer  pays  for  sending  his  own  eggs  to  market 
is  regarded  by  many  people  as  a  striking  example 
of  the  "  preference  "  that  is  alleged  to  be  shown 
by  them  to  the  foreigners,  and  the  real  position 
of  affairs  in  regard  to  this  particular  matter  is 
worth  examining  with  some  degree  of  detail. 

To  begin  with,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  conditions  of  the  trade  in  English  eggs  are 
very  different  from  those  of  the  trade  in  foreign 
eggs.  The  market  value  of  eggs  depends  on 
the  distance  they  travel  before  reaching  the 
hands  of  the  wholesale  or  retail  egg  merchant, 
each  day  that  has  elapsed  since  they  were  laid 
being  assumed  to  have  added  to  their  deteriora- 
tion, except  in  the  case  of  "  pickled  "  eggs,  large 
quantities  of  which  are  imported,  not  alone  for 


12 


THE   BRITISH    FARMER'S   ADVANTAGE         13 

food,  but  also  for  use  in  various  industrial  pro- 
cesses. It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  British 
farmer  has  an  almost  unassailable  position  in 
providing  his  home  market  with  those  new-laid 
varieties  which  realize  the  best  prices.  The  only 
country  that  can  seriously  compete  with  him  in 
this  respect  is  France,  and  it  is  a  curious  fact 
that  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago  the  best  quality  of 
eggs  from  France  had  a  higher  market  value  in 
this  country  than  English  "  new-laid  "  eggs,  the 
reason  being  that  whereas  in  France  the  eggs 
were  "  graded  "  into  sizes  and  qualities,  so  that 
what  were  described  as  new-laid  could  be  de- 
pended on  as  such,  in  England  the  farmers  had 
a  way  of  sending  to  market  as  "new-laid"  all 
the  eggs  they  came  across  on  their  farms,  with- 
out troubling  to  keep  back  those  that  had  already 
been  (say)  partially  hatched.  But  the  British 
farmer  is  improving  his  methods,  and  the  present 
position  is  that  while  the  importation  of  the 
cheaper  kind  of  eggs  from  all  other  countries 
has  greatly  increased,  that  of  the  best,  as  well 
as  of  the  other,  qualities  from  France  has 
steadily  declined.  Fifteen  years  ago  the  value 
of  French  eggs  imported  into  Great  Britain 
stood  at  £1,600,000.  In  1902  it  was  less  than 
£900,000. 

It   would   seem,   therefore,   that  the   British 


14  A    DISSERTATION   ON   EGGS 

farmer  is  now  well  able  to  hold  his  own  as 
regards  the  particular  branch  of  the  egg 
business  with  which  he  is  most  directly  con- 
cerned. The  opportunities  open  to  him  are  in- 
dicated somewhat  by  the  fact  that  there  is  one 
London  company  alone  which  uses  70,000  new- 
laid  eggs  a  week  in  its  different  refreshment 
rooms.  This  may  be  exceptional,  but  any 
farmer  living  within  thirty  miles  of  London, 
or  within  fifteen  miles  of  Liverpool,  Manchester, 
Birmingham,  or  any  other  large  centre  of  popula- 
tion, will  find  there  a  market  for  all  the  new-laid 
eggs  he  can  send  in.  The  drawback  to  his 
position  is  that,  with  his  comparatively  small 
supplies,  and  the  need  he  is  under  of  sending  them 
off  promptly,  so  that  they  will  arrive  within  the 
three-day  limit,  he  is  obliged  to  despatch  them 
in  a  succession  of  consignments,  day  by  day,  and 
cannot  keep  them  back  until  they  will  make  a 
single  substantial  lot.  It  is  the  very  essence  of 
the  situation,  therefore,  that  with  his  present 
limited  supplies,  he  simply  cannot  offer  to  the 
railway  companies  quantities  approaching  in  any 
degree  to  the  magnitude  of  those  coming  from 
abroad,  so  that  though  he  may  expect  to  realize 
the  best  price  for  his  particular  goods  on  the 
market,  he  is  unable  to  get  his  small  lots 
delivered  there  at  the  same  proportionately 


LIMITATIONS   OF   BRITISH   SUPPLIES          15 

low  rate  as  the  big  foreign  importations  secure 
by  reason  of  their  magnitude. 

In  districts  at  a  greater  distance  from  towns  or 
cities  combination  is  especially  desirable  in  order 
to  secure  the  grouping  of  consignments  into 
larger  quantities ;  but  here  again  the  home 
producer  can  hardly  expect  to  place  himself 
on  exactly  the  same  footing  as  the  foreigner, 
until  the  supply  of  British-laid  eggs  assumes 
larger  proportions.  Not  long  ago  the  National 
Poultry  Organization  Society  asked  one  of  the 
English  railway  companies  to  reduce  its  rates 
for  eggs  from  a  certain  agricultural  district  to 
London.  At  that  very  time  the  company  was 
carrying  through  the  district  in  question  consign- 
ments of  foreign  eggs  representing  from  25  to  50- 
ton  lots.  But  the  company  wanted  to  do  what 
it  could  for  the  local  residents,  seeing  that  in- 
creased prosperity  for  the  district  meant  increased 
prosperity  for  the  railway.  So  it  replied  (in 
effect) : — "  If  you  will  only  send  us  eggs  in  4-ton 
lots,  as  against  the  very  much  larger  quantities 
we  receive  from  abroad,  we  will  give  you  a  rate 
which  will  be  25  per  cent,  lower  than  we  get  as 
our  share  of  the  through  rate  charged  to  the 
foreigner."  But  the  offer  had  to  be  declined 
simply  because  the  production  of  the  whole 
county  would  not  have  sufficed  to  make  up  a 


1 6  A   DISSERTATION   ON   EGGS 

4-ton  lot.  In  the  case  of  another  English 
railway  company,  also  operating  in  an  agri- 
cultural district,  the  leading  officials,  when  ques- 
tioned on  the  subject,  said  they  had  never  heard 
of  such  a  consignment  as  a  case  of  English  eggs 
— a  case  representing  1,440  eggs.  Whereas  a 
single  steamer  arriving  at  a  British  port  has  been 
known  to  bring  any  number  of  tons  of  eggs  up 
to  eighty  or  ninety,  which  are  carried  to  their 
destination  in  truck  or  even  in  train  loads,  con- 
signments of  English  eggs  would  not  average 
more  than  a  single  cwt.,  picked  up  at  some 
wayside  station.  Yet  the  farmer  who  sends 
his  cwt.  expects  to  get  the  same  rate  as  the 
wholesale  dealers  who  handle  their  scores  of 
tons. 

The  trade  in  foreign  eggs  has,  indeed,  attained 
to  dimensions  which  few  persons  beyond  those 
concerned  therein  can  adequately  realize.  There 
is  one  firm  alone  in  London  that  receives  on  an 
average  20,000  cases  of  eggs  every  week  all  the 
year  round.  The  eggs  in  question  come  mostly 
from  Russia,  Galicia,  Rumania,  and  Austria. 
Between  April  and  August  from  10,000  to 
15,000  cases  will  be  sent  weekly  to  the  firm  in 
question  by  way  of  St.  Petersburg  or  Riga 
direct  to  London  by  sea.  The  freight  from 
port  to  port  represents  about  3s.  a  case,  though, 


CONTINENTAL   EGG   TRAINS  17 

as  many  of  the  eggs  will  have  come  from 
different  parts  of  Western  Siberia,  and  may 
already  have  been  seven  or  fourteen  days  on  the 
journey  before  reaching  the  port  of  embarkation, 
something  must  be  added  to  the  said  3s.  in 
respect  to  land  freight.  From  September  to 
March  the  firm  receive  about  10,000  cases  weekly, 
despatched  overland  from  Lemberg  (Galicia)  or 
other  collecting  points,  whence  they  are  brought 
to  London  via  the  Thames  or  Harwich.  In 
addition  to  the  supplies  coming  to  London  in 
such  quantities  as  these,  very  large  consignments 
go  from  Hamburg  to  north-eastern  ports  for  con- 
sumption or  use  in  the  northern  counties.  Special 
trains  made  up  at  Lemberg  will  run  through 
to  Hamburg  in  seventy-five  hours,  and  since  the 
month  of  September,  1902,  a  similar  train  has 
been  started  daily  at  Podwoloczyska,  a  station  on 
the  Russo-Rumanian  frontier,  to  take  eggs  and 
other  produce  to  either  Hamburg  or  Bremen. 
The  train  will  consist  of  about  30  waggons,  each 
holding  10  tons,  and  while  some  of  the  eggs  are 
destined  for  consumption  in  Germany,  the  bulk 
of  them  will  come  on  to  England.  The  freight 
from  Galicia  to  London  or  to  a  north-eastern 
port  works  out  at  9s.  a  case,  based  on  the  10-ton 
rate,  and  the  time  occupied  in  the  transit  is 
about  eight  days. 


i8  A  DISSERTATION   ON   EGGS 

One  wonders  how  it  is  that  eggs  can  be 
collected  in  such  large  quantities  as  these,  and 
the  information  given  on  this  point  is  certainly 
not  without  its  interest.  Throughout  Southern 
Russia,  Galicia,  and  Rumania  almost  every 
peasant  has  his  stock  of  fowls,  and  not  only  is 
the  rearing  of  them  a  well-understood  art, 
ingrained  in  the  people  from  long  experience, 
but  land  costs  only  a  few  shillings  an  acre,  and 
the  abundant  maize  grown  thereon  is  excellent 
feeding -stuff  for  the  fowls,  the  cost  and  the 
keep  of  which  are  thus  reduced  to  very  small 
proportions  indeed.  The  eggs  are  purchased 
from  the  peasants  by  "higglers" — mostly  Jews 
—who  make  a  business  of  going  round  from 
farm  to  farm,  or  from  cottage  to  cottage,  buying 
up  all  the  eggs  they  can  get.  Certain  towns  in 
Galicia  or  elsewhere  have  their  recognised  egg 
markets,  and  in  these  towns  live  the  agents  of 
various  English  firms.  To  them  the  "  higglers  " 
will  make  the  first  offer  of  the  eggs  they  have 
gathered  in,  and,  if  terms  cannot  then  be 
arranged,  the  eggs  will  be  put  on  the  open 
market  and  disposed  of  there.  In  either  case 
the  agents  who  purchase  the  eggs  re-pack  them 
for  transit  by  rail  and  sea,  and  this  is  so  well 
done  that  only  about  2  per  cent,  of  those 
despatched  to  this  country  are  found  to  be 


MAGNITUDE   OF  FOREIGN   SUPPLIES          19 

broken  on  arrival.  Of  eggs  classified  as 
"  Russian  "  the  total  number  brought  to  Great 
Britain  in  1902  was  640,000,000. 

Somewhat  similar  conditions  prevail  in  Italy, 
from  which  country  we  received  315,000,000 
eggs  in  1902.  The  through  rate  from  Porde- 
none  (Venetia)  to  London  for  10-ton  lots  is 
£43  16s.,  the  dealers  guaranteeing  to  send  800 
of  such  lots,  or  a  total  of  8,000  tons  of  eggs,  in 
the  course  of  a  year.  In  Denmark,  thanks  to 
effective  organization,  the  value  of  the  export 
trade  in  eggs  rose  from  about  £400,000  in  1895 
to  over  £1,270,000  in  1902,  the  total  number  of 
eggs  imported  into  great  Britain  from  Denmark 
in  the  latter  year  being  422,000,000.  Bulgaria, 
too,  has  increased  her  exportation  of  eggs  three- 
fold since  1901,  and  has  now  become  a  strong 
competitor  of  Italy  in  supplying  eggs  to 
Belgium,  the  quantities  she  is  sending  there 
representing  a  value  of  about  £90,000  a  year. 
Even  Egypt  is  exporting  eggs  in  such  quantities 
that  the  price  of  them  for  home  consumption 
has  materially  advanced  in  the  land  of  the 
Pharaohs,  where  so  recently  as  1895  they  could 
be  bought  at  the  rate  of  30  for  2l>d.  In  1897 
Egypt  exported  14,000,000  eggs  of  a  value 
of  £12,683;  whereas  in  1900  she  exported 
60,000,000  (of  which  49,000,000  came  to  the 


20  A   DISSERTATION   ON   EGGS 

United  Kingdom),  representing  a  value  of 
£83,000.  Eggs  now,  also,  constitute  the 
principal  item  of  export  from  Morocco,  nearly 
50,000,000  having  been  shipped  in  the  course  of 
a  single  season,  though  the  trade  has  sprung  up 
only  within  the  last  few  years.  The  eggs  are 
small  in  size,  but  they  are  of  good  quality,  and 
large  quantities  are  procurable  at  a  moderate 
price. 

Much  progress  has  undoubtedly  been  made  in 
England  and  Ireland  of  late  years  in  regard  to 
egg  production  ;  but  there  can  be  no  suggestion 
that  anything  yet  done  in  either  country  has 
rendered  unnecessary  a  large  importation  of 
foreign  eggs.  If  a  wholesale  dealer  in  London 
wanted  500  cases,  he  would  find  it  practically 
hopeless  to  get  them  either  in  England  or  in 
Ireland,  except,  perhaps,  after  going  to  infinite 
trouble,  and  waiting  a  long  time ;  but  a  tele- 
graphed order  to  his  agent  at  Podwoloczyska 
would  bring  the  whole  500  cases  to  him  in  little 
more  than  a  week. 

From  this  same  centre  we  get  an  illustration 
of  the  extent  to  which  eggs  are  used  for 
purely  industrial  purposes.  There  are  at 
Podwoloczyska  three  albumen  factories,  each 
of  which  consumes  annually  from  three  to 
three  and  a  half  million  eggs  in  manufacturing 


EGGS   AND   INDUSTRIES  21 

processes,  1  Ib.  of  albumen  being  extracted 
from  every  7  Ibs.  of  white  of  eggs.  The  albumen 
is  used  for  printing  textiles,  in  the  making  of 
porcelain,  in  sugar  factories,  and  for  other 
purposes.  It  is  sent  to  various  parts  of  Austria, 
to  Germany,  France,  Great  Britain,  and  to 
the  United  States,  in  cases  of  about  2  cwts., 
the  value  representing  from  £5  5s.  to  £5  10s. 
per  cwt.  The  yolks  of  the  eggs  are  worked  up 
into  a  material  for  dressing  glove  leather. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  foreign  eggs  reach- 
ing this  country  travel  so  long  a  distance,  and 
fetch  so  small  a  price  on  the  market,  that  the 
through  freight  charged  for  their  conveyance 
must  necessarily  be  low  if  they  are  to  be  carried 
at  all,  and  such  lowness  of  freight  is  held  to  be 
warranted  alike  by  these  circumstances  and  by 
the  vast  quantities  in  which  the  eggs  come.  If 
the  English  railway  companies,  assuming  the 
functions  of  Imperial  Parliament,  sought  to  im- 
pose a  "hostile  tariff"  on  foreign  eggs  by  insist- 
ing on  a  higher  rate  for  transit  over  their  own 
lines  they  might  either  stop  some  of  the  trade 
altogether  or  else  simply  cause  it  to  reach  Lon- 
don via  the  Thames ;  but  there  would  not 
necessarily  be  much  direct  benefit  to  the  British 
farmer  himself.  As  already  shown,  he  can  have 
the,  monopoly  of  the  market  for  new-laid  eggs 


22  A   DISSERTATION   ON   EGGS 

without  fear  of  the  competition  of  any  country 
but  France,  and  his  great  aim  should  be,  by 
means  of  good  methods  and  effective  organiza- 
tion, to  cultivate  this  particular  branch  of  the 
trade,  and  be  in  a  position  to  make  better  terms 
with  the  railways  than,  as  shown  above,  he  is 
able  to  do  at  present. 

To  render  Great  Britain  entirely  independent 
of  foreign  eggs  would  require,  according  to  one 
trustworthy  authority,  twenty-five  years  of  per- 
sistent effort,  and  even  then  it  might  be  a  ques- 
tion in  regard  to  the  cheapest  qualities  of  eggs 
(and  especially  those  used  for  industrial  pro- 
cesses) whether,  in  a  country  of  such  limited 
dimensions  as  ours,  the  land  could  not  be  more 
profitably  employed  than  by  devoting  it  to 
poultry-raising  on  so  large  a  scale,  in  order  to 
compete  with  peasants  occupying  comparatively 
valueless  land  in  Siberia,  Galicia,  and  elsewhere. 
With  a  special  market  at  home  offering  abundant 
scope  for  his  own  energies,  the  British  farmer 
can,  indeed,  well  look  with  complacency  on  the 
bulk  of  the  imports  of  foreign  eggs.  On  the 
other  hand  he  ought  not  to  expect  any  railway 
company,  conducted  on  business  principles,  to 
carry  retail  lots  at  wholesale  prices.  When  he 
is  able  to  send  truck-loads  he  will  certainly  get 
the  most  favourable  truck-load  rates ;  but  if,  in 


CORNISH    V.  DANISH    METHODS  23 

the  meantime,  he  is  not  in  a  position  to  make  up 
a  box  of  more  than  56  Ibs.  at  one  time,  he  can 
hardly  accuse  the  English  railway  companies  of 
extortion  if  they  charge  him  Is.,  or  even  Is.  9d.9 
for  carrying  such  a  box  a  distance  up  to  200 
miles,  although  this  sum  might  be  found  to  work 
out  at  a  relatively  higher  figure  than  what  they 
charge  for  a  consignment  of  from  25  to  50  tons. 
The  striking  difference  between  British  and 
Continental  methods,  and  the  real  need  which 
exists  in  this  country  for  effective  organization, 
are  well  shown  by  the  following  paragraph,  which 
I  take  from  the  Western  Daily  Mercury  of 
April  25th,  1903  :- 

Within  the  past  few  years  there  has  been  a  marked 
falling  off  in  the  Cornish  egg  trade.  At  one  time  a  large 
trader  in  the  Duchy  used  to  supply  eggs  to  the  value 
of  £200  a  week  to  a  well-known  London  shop,  and  to-day 
that  shop  does  not  take  a  single  egg  from  Cornwall. 
Eight  years  ago  Cornish  dealers  were  sending  eggs  to 
London  to  the  value  of  £25,000  a  year.  To-day  the  sum 
returned  for  such  produce  does  not  amount  to  £15,000. 
The  reason  of  this  altered  state  of  things  is  not,  as  some 
suppose,  due  to  the  smaller  size  of  the  Cornish  egg, 
because  there  is  practically  no  difference  between  it  and 
its  successful  rival  from  Denmark.  Where  the  Cornish 
egg  merchant  damages  his  business  is  through  his  own 
carelessness.  He  will  not  study  the  requirements  of  the 
market.  He  will  give  no  attention  to  uniformity,  but 
will  place  large  and  small  eggs,  and  also  duck  eggs,  all  in 


24  A   DISSERTATION   ON   EGGS 

the  same  box.  Whether  they  are  fresh  or  not  is  evidently 
no  concern  of  his.  He  will  not  wash  a  stained  egg.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  farmers  of  Denmark  are  most  particu- 
lar about  all  these  things.  They  place  all  the  eggs  of  one 
size  together.  They  arrange  the  different  shades,  and 
they  see  that  every  egg  is  fresh  and  clean.  All  that 
means  saving  to  the  shopman,  together  with  the  certainty 
of  better  prices  and  more  trade. 


CHAPTER  III 

AGRICULTURAL   ORGANIZATION 
IN   DENMARK 

IT  is  in  Denmark  that  the  British  farmer  will 
find  his  most  impressive  object  lessons  as  to 
the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  agricultural  co- 
operation, and  already  many  deputations  have 
gone  to  Denmark  to  study  the  Danish  system, 
and  much  has  been  written  thereon.  But  the 
whole  story  of  the  way  in  which  the  Danes,  in 
their  diminutive  and,  at  one  time,  hardly-pressed 
country,  overcame  the  disadvantages  of  their 
position,  and  boldly  met  and  were  made  only 
the  stronger  by  adverse  circumstances,  is  one 
that  will  bear  re-telling,  and  is,  indeed,  one  that 
cannot  be  told  too  often  to  the  agriculturists  of 
other  lands  who  may  feel  depressed  because 
their  own  conditions  are  not  all  that  they  would 
like  them  to  be. 

As  left  by  the  Napoleonic  wars,  Denmark  was 
but  little  more  than  the  wreck  of  a  country,  and 
even  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  half-century 


26  ORGANIZATION   IN   DENMARK 

the  manufacture  of  butter,  as  related  by  Mr. 
Rudolf  Schou,  in  his  book  Orn  Landbruget  i 
Danmark,  was  only  of  secondary  importance, 
the  cows  being  inferior,  the  yield  of  milk  small, 
and  the  butter,  made  in  ill-equipped  dairies,  very 
indifferent  in  quality.  In  1860  Professor  T.  R. 
Segelcke  began  his  efforts  to  place  the  industry 
on  a  rational  and  scientific  basis  ;  but  close  upon 
this  followed  the  disastrous  war  with  Prussia 
and  Austria,  as  the  result  of  which  Denmark 
lost  two  of  the  fairest  and  most  fertile  of  her 
provinces,  and  was  thus  reduced  to  the  narrow 
limits  of  the  islands  and  Jutland.  Even  of  this 
area  a  substantial  proportion  consisted  of  moor, 
marsh,  and  dune  land,  fit,  apparently,  for  nothing 
but  for  the  wind  and  the  storms  to  blow  over. 
On  the  top  of  all  this  came  the  fall  in  the  price 
of  corn,  which  had  hitherto  been  the  staple  pro- 
duct of  Denmark,  but  the  cultivation  of  which 
was  found  to  be  no  longer  remunerative. 

Comparing  the  position  of  Denmark  and  of 
Great  Britain  respectively  in  the  era  of  agricul- 
tural depression  brought  about  at  this  period,  it 
is  evident  from  the  circumstances  narrated  above 
that  the  former  country  found  herself  in  much 
worse  circumstances  than  the  latter ;  but  this 
very  fact,  perhaps,  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with 
the  greater  degree  of  vigour  shown  by  the  Dan- 


RETRIEVING   NATIONAL   DISASTER  27 

ish  agriculturists.  Reduced  to  the  proportions 
of  a  dwarf,  Denmark  fought  against  adversity 
with  the  courage  of  a  giant ;  and,  crippled  though 
she  was,  she  not  only  regained  her  strength,  but 
became  a  power  in  the  commercial  world  with 
which  other  nations  have  had  seriously  to  reckon. 
One  of  the  first  things  done  was  to  secure 
such  compensation  as  was  possible  for  the  loss  of 
Schleswig-Holstein  by  reclaiming  and  bringing 
under  cultivation  the  aforesaid  moor,  marsh,  and 
dune  land,  of  which  the  surface  of  Jutland  then 
so  largely  consisted.  In  the  days  of  ancient 
history  there  were  extensive  forests  in  this  part 
of  Denmark,  with  good  pastures  which,  together 
with  the  abundant  crops  of  acorns,  afforded 
ample  food  for  the  swine  that  were  kept  there. 
But  in  the  course  of  the  centuries  the  trees  gave 
way  to  brushwood,  the  brushwood  was  succeeded 
by  heaths,  the  pastures  disappeared,  and  a  pre- 
viously fertile  district  became  little  better  than  a 
desert  waste,  where,  even  so  late  as  1850,  one 
could  wander  for  hours  without  seeing  a  single 
human  habitation.  At  that  time  the  extent  of 
these  Danish  landes  represented  a  total  of  over 
5,000  square  miles,  and  the  conditions  were  but 
very  little  improved,  if  at  all,  in  1866,  when, 
following  on  the  war,  one  of  the  most  practical 
of  Danish  patriots,  Colonel  Dalgas,  started  the 


28  ORGANIZATION   IN   DENMARK 

Danish  Heath  Society,  with  the  idea  of  bring- 
ing the  area  in  question  under  cultivation.  Roads 
were  made,  irrigation  schemes  were  carried  out, 
colonies  were  established,  railways  were  con- 
structed, and  plantations  were  arranged,  the 
final  outcome  of  the  society's  work  being  that 
25,000  acres  of  sandy  land  have  been  converted 
into  productive  soil,  75,000  acres  have  been 
planted  with  conifers,  two  experimental  stations 
have  been  established,  and  400  demonstration 
fields  have  been  organized  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  where  heath  land  is  to  be  found.  All 
this  good  work  is  still  going  on,  and  it  has  been 
taken  up  in  other  directions  besides. 

It  was,  of  course,  in  the  development  of  the 
dairy  industry  that  the  Danes  mainly  found  the 
means  of  recovering  from  the  crisis  which  had 
overtaken  their  economic,  and  especially  their 
agricultural,  conditions ;  but  this  relief  was 
secured  only  as  the  result  of  prolonged  experi- 
ment and  much  most  patient  effort.  Originally 
the  butter  exported  from  Denmark  came  from 
what  were  little  more  than  blending  mills,  the 
supplies  produced  by  the  individual  farmers,  and 
representing  a  variety  of  qualities  and  different 
degrees  of  freshness,  being  bought  up  and  mixed 
together  with  results  that  were  not  always 
satisfactory  to  the  purchaser,  while  the  expense 


THE   DAIRY   INDUSTRY  29 

to  which  each  farmer  was  put  in  producing  his 
own  particular  lot  of  butter  left,  as  a  rule,  a 
very  small  margin  for  profit. 

Then  there  was  adopted  the  system  of 
creameries,  to  which  the  farmers  would  take 
their  cream  only.  This  represented  a  distinct 
advance,  as  it  effected  a  saving  alike  of  time  and 
of  cost  to  the  farmer ;  but  the  greatest  degree 
of  progress  began  with  the  perfection  of  the 
centrifugal  cream  separator,  which  left  the 
farmer  to  do  no  more  than  send  his  milk  to 
the  butter  factory,  where  the  cream  was  taken 
from  it  by  the  separator,  and  the  skim  milk 
given  back  to  him  for  the  feeding  of  his  pigs. 

In  other  ways,  besides,  the  researches  of  a 
number  of  learned  professors  had  placed  the 
working  of  the  industry  on  a  more  scientific 
basis,  thus  facilitating  operations,  reducing  ex- 
penses, and  allowing  of  far  better  and  much 
more  profitable  results  being  obtained  than  had 
been  the  case  before.  Then,  also,  the  spread  of 
an  extremely  practical  scheme  of  national 
education,  and  especially  agricultural  education, 
had  prepared  the  people  to  take  advantage  of 
the  coming  transformation  ;  while  the  system  of 
land  tenure  in  Denmark,  which  had  done  so 
much  to  encourage  both  the  creation  of  agri- 
cultural freeholders  and  the  increase  of  small 


30  ORGANIZATION   IN   DENMARK 

holdings,  had  further  strengthened  the  power 
of  the  agricultural  community  to  benefit  from 
the  opportunities  opening  out  to  them. 

The  immediate  and  most  striking  outcome  of 
these  various  conditions  was  a  resort  to  co- 
operative dairies,  so  that  the  agricultural  classes 
could  get  a  maximum  of  possible  benefit  for 
themselves.  The  first  co-operative  dairy  in 
Denmark  was  opened  in  West  Jutland  in  1882. 
Others  followed,  and  to  such  an  extent  has  the 
movement  spread  that  to-day  a  co-operative 
dairy  is  to  be  found  in  almost  every  parish. 
There  are  now  no  fewer  than  1,050  of  such 
dairies  hi  Denmark,  with  148,000  members, 
owning  750,000  cows  out  of  a  total  of  1,067,000 
milch  cows  in  the  country.  In  1902  Denmark 
exported,  mainly  to  Great  Britain,  168,000,000 
Ibs.  of  butter,  135,000,000  Ibs.  of  this  total 
representing  home  produce,  and  the  remaining 
33,000,000  Ibs.  butter  received  from  Sweden 
and  Russia.  The  total  value  of  our  imports  of 
butter  from  Denmark  in  1902  was  £9,302,000, 
as  compared  with  £8,950,000  in  1901,  and 
£8,029,000  in  1900.  The  amount  invested  in 
the  erection  and  equipment  of  the  dairies  is 
over  £1,500,000.  The  practice  usually  adopted 
is  for  about  150  farmers  in  a  particular  district 
to  raise,  say,  £1,200  by  subscribing  £8  each,  this 


POLITICS   AND   BACON   FACTORIES  31 

sum  being  sufficient  to  provide  a  dairy  which 
will  deal  with  the  milk  of  850  cows.  The 
establishment  of  the  co-operative  dairies  has 
been  followed  by  the  founding  of  societies  for 
the  sale  of  butter,  together  with  some  200 
central  unions  which  employ  capable  men  to 
take  periodical  tests  of  the  milk  on  the  farms  of 
the  members,  and  see  which  particular  cows 
gave  the  best  results  according  to  the  quantity 
and  cost  of  food  consumed. 

Next  to  the  co-operative  creameries,  and  now, 
indeed,  rivalling  them  in  importance,  come  the 
Danish  co-operative  bacon-curing  factories,  the 
success  of  which  has  been,  if  possible,  even  more 
rapid.  It  is  interesting  to  find,  however,  that 
these  factories  were  originally  the  outcome  of 
political  prejudices  rather  than  of  patriotic  senti- 
ment or  commercial  foresight.  In  1872  the 
Liberals  in  Denmark  got  a  majority  in  the 
Folkething,  which  majority  they  still  retain ; 
but  the  Conservatives  remained  in  power  (as 
they  had  been  since  the  concession  of  the  Con- 
stitution in  1849),  the  members  of  the  Govern- 
ment being  elected  from  the  Landsthing,  or 
Upper  House.  The  Liberals  resented  this,  and 
trouble  arose  as  to  the  voting  of  the  Budget, 
which,  under  the  Constitution,  required  to  be 
passed  by  the  Lower  House.  The  Government 


32  ORGANIZATION   IN   DENMARK 

surmounted  the  difficulty  by  inducing  the  King 
to  ratify  "provisional  budgets,"  and  this  was 
done  for  a  succession  of  years,  to  the  increasing 
dissatisfaction  of  the  Liberal  party,  the  members 
of  which  were  mostly  small  farmers  in  the 
country  districts,  the  large  farmers  and  the 
wholesale  dealers  belonging  mainly  to  the  Con- 
servatives. 

The  opportunity  of  the  Liberals  came  in 
1887,  when  Germany  closed  her  ports  to  live 
pigs  from  Denmark  (owing  to  the  fear  of  a 
possible  introduction  of  swine  fever  from  that 
country),  and  the  Danish  dealers  had  to  think  of 
converting  more  of  the  pigs  into  bacon,  and  ex- 
porting them  in  that  form  instead,  mainly  to 
England,  which  had  begun  to  be  a  buyer  of 
Danish  bacon  some  years  previously.  The 
Liberal  farmers  rose  to  the  occasion,  and  said  to 
the  Conservative  dealers :  "If  you  will  not  give 
us  our  political  rights  we  will  not  let  you  have 
our  pigs.  We  will  start  bacon-curing  factories 
on  our  own  account."  And  this  was  just  what 
they  did.  They  opened  their  first  co-operative 
bacon-curing  establishment  at  Horsens,  Jutland, 
in  1887,  more  with  the  idea,  as  it  would  seem, 
of  spiting  the  Conservatives  than  for  purely 
commercial  reasons ;  but  the  scheme  was  soon 
found  to  be  well  worth  following  up  on  its  own 


THE   GROWTH    OF   AN    INDUSTRY 


33 


account,  apart  from  any  political  considera- 
tions. The  profits  gained  by  the  farmers  were 
so  much  more  substantial  than  they  had  been 
before  that  there  was  every  inducement  to  start 
more  and  more  co-operative  factories,  so  that 
the  growth  of  the  movement  became  almost 
phenomenal,  as  the  following  table  will  show : — 


YEAR. 

CO-OPERATIVE 

NO.  OF  PIGS 

VALUE   IN   £ 

AVERAGE  PRICE 

FACTORIES. 

KILLED. 

PER  PIG. 

1888 

1 

23,407 

57,000 

£    s.     d. 
290 

1889 

8 

131,548 

327,000 

2   18     0 

1890 

10 

147,455 

434,000 

2   19     0 

1891 

14 

269,743 

755,000 

2   18     0 

1892 

14 

297,641 

961,000 

350 

1893 

14 

317,785 

,064,000 

350 

1894- 

15 

385,731 

,114,000 

2   18     0 

1895 

17 

528,811 

,273,000 

280 

1896 

20 

626,854 

,400,000 

250 

1897 

25 

583,420 

,618,000 

2   15     0 

1898 

25 

601,039 

,625,000 

2   14     0 

1899 

25 

729,171 

,733,000 

250 

1900 

26 

660,000 

,918,000 

2   16     0 

1901 

26 

651,261 

2,111,000 

300 

1902 

27 

777,232 

2,500,000 

346 

— 

— 

6,731,048 

18,900,000 

— 

In  addition  to  these  twenty-seven  co-operative 
bacon  factories,  which  have  a  total  membership 
of  65,800,  there  are  also  in  Denmark  twenty- 
four  private  factories. 

In  the  organization  of  the  co-operative  fac- 


34  ORGANIZATION   IN   DENMARK 

tories  no  capital  is  subscribed  by  the  farmers, 
whose  joint  guarantees  are  sufficient  to  enable 
them  to  secure  from  the  banking  institutions  of 
the  country  the  loans  they  may  require  to  defray 
the  costs  of  construction,  and  to  provide  working 
capital  as  well,  the  loans  being  repaid  out  of  the 
profits  of  the  business.  The  members  also 
guarantee  to  supply  to  the  factories  all  the  pigs 
they  raise  on  their  farms,  a  fine  of  ten  Kroner 
(11*.  3d.)  per  pig  being  imposed  in  case  of  non- 
compliance.  On  sending  in  his  pigs  the  farmer 
is  paid  a  certain  sum,  representing  less  than  the 
value,  but  subsequently  he  receives  a  share  in 
the  profits  according  to  the  number  of  animals 
he  has  supplied.  The  factories  are  able  not  only 
to  carry  on  the  work  of  bacon-curing  economic- 
ally, but  they  can  utilize  all  the  by-products, 
while  the  system  of  mutual  insurance  through 
the  Central  Association  of  Co-operative  Bacon 
Curers,  when  sending  consignments  to  England, 
represents  a  saving  to  each  factory  of  25  per 
cent,  on  this  one  item  alone.  Then,  again,  the 
establishment  of  co-operative  bacon  factories 
has  been  supplemented  by  a  national  movement, 
supported  by  the  State,  for  improving  the  quality 
of  the  pigs.  To  this  end  experts  were  sent  to 
Ireland  and  other  countries  to  inquire  into  the 
methods  of  breeding  and  feeding  in  vogue  there, 


DANISH   EGG   SOCIETIES  35 

and  there  are  instructors  who  give  advice  on  these 
subjects  to  the  Danish  farmers,  whenever  desired. 
Another  highly  successful  branch  of  co-opera- 
tive agriculture  in  Denmark  is  represented  by 
the  egg  industry.  Here  the  chief  organization 
is  that  of  the  Dansk  Andels  Aeg-export,  which 
was  founded  in  1895,  and  now  constitutes  the 
central  body  of  a  large  number  of  local  societies 
in  all  parts  of  Denmark.  The  members  of  these  *> 
societies  pledge  themselves  to  deliver  none  but 
freshly-laid  eggs,  all  that  are  sent  in  being  so 
marked  that  the  farmer  supplying  any  single 
one  of  them  can  be  readily  traced,  while  a 
penalty  of  5,9.  6d.  is  imposed  for  every  bad  egg 
received  after  a  warning  has  been  given.  The 
local  societies  remit  the  eggs  to  the  central 
organization,  which  arranges  for  grading,  pack- 
ing, and  sale,  and  fixes  the  price  per  Ib.  to  be 
given  to  the  farmers,  less  cost  of  collection  and 
other  expenses.  Membership  of  the  local  socie- 
ties is  generally  obtained  in  return  for  an  en- 
trance fee  of  sixpence.  So  profitable  has  the 
business  become  that  the  Danes  send  their  own 
eggs  to  Great  Britain,  and  import  eggs  from 
Russia  for  home  consumption,  the  difference 
between  the  price  they  get  for  the  former  and 
the  amount  they  pay  for  the  latter  representing 
by  the  end  of  the  year  a  fairly  substantial  sum. 


36  ORGANIZATION   IN   DENMARK 

Among  the  many  other  forms  of  co-operative 
organization  in  Denmark  an  important  role  is 
rilled  by  the  associations  formed  for  the  supply 
of  agricultural  necessaries — seeds,  feeding- stuffs, 
manures,  machinery,  etc — at  the  lowest  price  and 
in  the  best  condition.  Here,  again,  the  local 
societies  are  formed  in  turn  into  large  federa- 
tions. The  ramifications  of  this  co-operative 
purchase  system  extend  to  practically  every 
parish  in  Denmark. 

Then  the  growth  of  the  egg  industry  has  given 
rise  to  numerous  poultry  societies  for  the  improve- 
ment of  fowls.  Some  of  these  societies  have  a 
membership  of  from  2,000  to  3,000  persons.  They 
receive  grants  from  the  Government,  and  their 
operations  are  greatly  facilitated  by  experts  who 
devote  their  time  to  delivering  lectures  or  giving 
personal  advice  to  the  farmers.  Of  local  bee- 
keepers' associations  there  are  now  sixty  in 
Denmark,  with  a  membership  of  5,000  and 
a  central  federation  which  organizes  shows, 
arranges  for  lectures,  carries  out  experiments, 
publishes  a  Bee  Keeper's  Journal,  and  in  other 
ways  promotes  the  welfare  of  the  bee-keeping 
industry.  Mention  must  also  be  made  of  the 
large  number  of  societies,  operating  in  every 
part  of  Denmark,  for  the  insurance  of  live  stock 
on  co-operative  principles,  the  members  being 


COMBINATION   MANY-SIDED  37 

jointly  and  severally  responsible  for  the  payment 
of  the  money  to  which  any  one  of  them  may 
become  entitled  under  the  terms  of  his  policy. 
Some  of  these  societies  have  up  to  7,000 
members,  and  in  one  instance,  at  least,  animals 
are  insured  in  a  single  society  to  the  amount  of 
£1,300,000. 

Almost  every  branch  of  the  agricultural  in- 
dustry is  thus  represented  in  Denmark  by  its 
separate  co-operative  organization.  Indeed,  it 
may  safely  be  said  that  whenever  a  want  arises 
which  may  be  supplied  by  combination,  or  when- 
ever there  is  any  possibility  of  mutual  interests 
being  promoted,  the  Danish  farmers  are  always 
ready  to  join  with  one  another  in  a  combined 
effort  to  secure  what  they  desire.  As  a  rule 
each  particular  co-operative  society  works  on 
independent  lines,  for  its  own  special  object,  so 
that  one  farmer  may  be  a  member  of  many 
different  organizations,  according  to  the  particular 
branches  of  agriculture  in  which  he  is  interested. 
It  is  no  unusual  occurrence  for  a  Danish  farmer 
to  belong  to  ten  local  co-operative  societies,  be- 
sides other  bodies  formed  for  the  advancement 
of  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  country.  The 
general  network  is  completed  by  a  number  of 
agricultural  associations  whose  function  it  is  to 
arrange  for  the  holding  of  shows ;  to  distribute 


38  ORGANIZATION   IN   DENMARK 

prizes  to  agricultural  labourers  for  the  efficient 
management  of  small  allotments ;  to  carry  on 
field  experiments  ;  to  organize  parochial  agricul- 
tural societies ;  to  assist  in  the  work  of  the 
Government  experts  ;  to  arrange  tours  of  inquiry, 
whether  in  Denmark  or  in  foreign  countries,  by 
parties  of  Danish  farmers ;  to  secure  the  im- 
provement of  live  stock,  especially  cattle  and 
horses,  or  to  watch  over  the  milking  qualities  of 
milch  cows.  Of  these  further  societies,  which 
are  also  essentially  co-operative  in  their  action, 
there  are  over  100,  with  a  membership  of  65,000. 
They  are  in  receipt  of  subventions  from  the  State 
to  the  extent  of  close  on  £10,000  a  year. 

Yet  another  group  tending  to  the  progress 
of  agriculture  is  represented  by  associations 
of  agricultural  labourers  which,  among  other 
objects,  endeavour  to  promote  the  practice  by 
them  of  the  smaller  industries — such  as  the 
keeping  of  fowls  and  the  cultivation  of  fruit 
and  flowers — and  aim  also  at  the  improvement 
of  home  life,  the  encouragement  of  thrift,  and 
the  advancement  in  other  ways  of  the  interests 
of  labourers.  The  attainment  of  these  various 
purposes  is  sought  by  the  holding  of  meetings 
and  re-unions  (which  in  themselves  exercise  a 
wholesome  influence  on  social  life  in  the  vil- 
lages), by  the  giving  of  lectures  on  agricultural 


RESULTS   OF   ECONOMIC   ADVANCE  39 

subjects,  by  the  opening  of  savings  banks,  and 
by  helping  the  labourers  to  obtain  employment 
in  case  of  need.  Of  such  societies  as  these  there 
are  in  Denmark  270,  with  a  membership  of 
12,000.  The  smaller  societies  form  groups 
among  themselves,  and  these  groups  in  turn  are 
connected  with  large  central  federations,  so  that 
there  is  maintained  among  the  agricultural 
labourers  of  the  country  a  bond  of  union  and 
of  combined  effort  which  compares  with  that 
existing  among  the  farmers  themselves. 

For  technical  details  as  to  the  actual  working 
of  these  varied  forms  of  agricultural  combination 
the  reader  who  is  interested  therein  cannot  do 
better  than  consult  a  Report  on  Co-operative 
Agriculture  and  Rural  Conditions  in  Denmark, 
prepared  by  the  members  of  a  deputation  sent 
to  that  country  by  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture and  Technical  Instruction  for  Ireland,  and 
issued  by  the  said  Department  from  its  head- 
quarters in  Dublin  in  the  autumn  of  1903. 
Here  I  can  now  only  add  to  the  general  outline 
given  above  the  assurance  that  the  resort  to  all 
this  co-operative  effort  has  brought  about  in  the 
economic  conditions  of  Denmark  changes  that 
have  been  almost  revolutionary  in  their  character. 
Not  only  has  it  effectually  checked  the  serious 
consequences  that  seemed  to  be  impending  as 


40  ORGANIZATION   IN   DENMARK 

the  combined  result  of  agricultural  depression 
and  national  disaster,  but  the  general  position 
of  Denmark  to-day  is  one  of  greater  prosperity 
than  ever,  for  the  Danes  are  deriving  more 
advantage  from  the  extremely  limited  amount 
of  soil  they  now  possess  than  they  got  from  the 
land  before  the  dimensions  of  their  country  were 
so  seriously  curtailed.  The  margin  of  gain  may 
often  be  small,  and  it  might  be  still  less  but  for 
the  unquestionable  energy,  foresight,  and  per- 
severance of  the  people  ;  but  the  general  pros- 
perity of  the  Danish  people  as  a  whole  is  beyond 
dispute,  and  the  one  all -important  factor  in 
bringing  about  that  result  has  undoubtedly  been 
the  development  of  the  agricultural  interest. 


CHAPTER  IV 
GERMANY 

UP  to  a  few  decades  ago  Germany  was 
mainly  an  agricultural  country,  and  not 
only  provided  what  food  supplies  she  wanted  for 
herself,  but  had  a  substantial  surplus  to  send  else- 
where. Since  then,  however,  the  industrial  in- 
terests of  the  Empire  have  developed  so  rapidly 
that  they  constitute  a  formidable  rival  of  the 
agricultural  interests  at  home,  just  as  they  are  the 
recognized  rivals  of  manufacturing  countries  else- 
where. So  between  Agrarians  and  Industrials 
in  the  German  Fatherland  there  is  an  unceasing 
strife.  The  industrials  are  draining  more  and 
more  labour  from  the  country  districts  into  the 
towns,  and  they  look  with  comparative  uncon- 
cern on  the  fact  that  Germany  is  now  importing, 
rather  than  exporting,  food  supplies,  declaring, 
as  they  do  in  effect,  that  all  this  is  to  the 
real  interest  of  the  people,  inasmuch  as  the 
expansion  of  manufactures  will  be  more  pro- 
fitable to  the  nation  than  the  concentration 

41 


42  GERMANY 

of  too  much  energy  on  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil. 

Following  on  these  changing  economic  condi- 
tions, together  with  the  altered  political  situation 
to  which  they  give  rise — a  situation  that  has  no 
exact  counterpart  in  Great  Britain — came  from 
Germany  that  same  falling  off  in  agricultural 
prices  which  affected  our  own  agricultural  classes 
so  seriously  when  the  United  States,  Canada, 
Denmark,  Australasia,  Russia,  and  other  coun- 
tries joined  in  the  scramble  for  the  conquest, 
more  or  less,  of  the  world's  food  markets.  It  is 
true  that  the  agriculturists  of  Germany  had  the 
advantage,  from  their  own  point  of  view,  of  a 
Government  willing  to  raise  up  tariff  barriers  for 
their  protection,  and  to  this  extent  they  had  a 
greater  chance  of  preserving  their  own  consider- 
able home  markets  for  themselves  than  was  the 
case  with  agriculturists  in  free-trade  England  ; 
but,  even  with  this  said  advantage,  it  is  extremely 
improbable  that  agriculture  would  have  held  its 
own  in  Germany  in  the  way  it  has  done  had  not 
some  very  special  efforts  been  made  for  the 
still  further  development  of  her  own  particular 
interests. 

One  of  the  fundamental  reasons  for  the  results 
actually  attained  is,  undoubtedly,  to  be  sought 
in  the  thoroughgoing  system  of  agricultural  in- 


AGRICULTURAL   INSTRUCTION  43 

struction  that  prevails  in  Germany.  The  original 
founder  of  this  system  (as  related  in  a  Report 
on  Agricultural  Instruction  in  Germany,  pre- 
pared by  Dr.  Frederick  Rose,  His  Majesty's 
Consul  at  Stuttgart)  was  a  certain  doctor  of 
medicine,  Thaer  by  name,  who,  in  1802,  con- 
verted his  small  property  at  Celle,  near  Han- 
over, into  an  experimental  estate  and  farming 
academy.  He  had  made  a  study  of  German 
and  foreign  agricultural  literature,  especially  in 
regard  to  the  influence  of  chemistry  upon  agri- 
culture, and  he  had  "benefited  greatly  by  the 
superior  methods  then  prevailing  in  the  United 
Kingdom " ;  but  he  had  sought  in  vain  for  a 
practical  system,  based  upon  the  results  of  scien- 
tific research,  by  which  agriculture  could  be 
brought  to  a  higher  degree  of  productiveness, 
and  so  he  started  an  academy  of  his  own. 

From  these  small  beginnings  of  100  years  ago 
agricultural  instruction  has  so  far  extended  in 
Germany  that  it  is  now  divided  by  Dr.  Rose 
into  the  following  categories  :— 

Advanced : 

1.  Independent  agricultural  high  schools. 

2.  Agricultural  institutes  at  the  universities. 

3.  Other  higher  agricultural  institutes. 

4.  Special  lecture  courses  for  advanced  owners,  man- 

agers, and  farmers  of  large  estates,  etc. 


44  GERMANY 

Secondary : 

Agricultural  schools. 

Elementary : 

1.  Farming  schools. 

2.  Agricultural  winter  schools. 

3.  Special  lower  agricultural  schools. 

4.  Rural  improvement  schools. 

5.  Special  courses  of  lectures. 

For  details  respecting  all  these  various  phases 
of  the  system,  and  the  courses  of  instruction 
followed,  I  must  refer  the  reader  to  Dr.  Rose's 
own  report.  Suffice  it  here  to  say  that  Dr.  Rose, 
in  summing  up  the  general  situation,  tells  us 
that  the  whole  system  of  secondary  and  elemen- 
tary agricultural  instruction  in  Germany,  in  its 
principal  aspects,  was  organized  during  the  second 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  he  adds : 
"At  the  present  time  in  Germany  there  is  no 
branch  of  agricultural  production  for  which 
special  facilities  for  instruction  are  not  pro- 
vided." 

There  may  be  individuals  among  the  agricul- 
tural community  who  will  say,  "  What  is  the 
use  of  all  this  instruction?  Our  fathers  and 
grandfathers  prospered  without  it,  and  we  should 
do  the  same  if  we  were  only  assured  of  better 
markets."  But  agricultural  research  and  instruc- 
tion have  brought  about  great  results  in  Ger- 


PRACTICAL   BENEFITS  45 

many,  for,  among  other  things,  they  have  opened 
up  to  the  farmers  of  that  country  markets  which 
they  would  certainly  not  have  had  without  them. 
One  can  hardly  exaggerate  the  benefits  derived 
from  the  discoveries,  for  example,  of  agricultural 
chemistry  in  regard,  not  only  to  the  application 
of  artificial  manures,  but  to  the  use  of  agricul- 
tural products  in  various  industries.  On  the 
former  point  there  is  no  need  to  speak  here  in 
detail,  but  in  regard  to  the  latter  there  are  some 
interesting  facts  that  can  be  given. 

No  fewer  than  14,000,000  tons  of  beetroot, 
representing  a  value  of  £12,600,000,  are  used 
in  Germany  in  the  course  of  a  year  in  the  manu- 
facture of  sugar,  and  the  production  of  these 
supplies  for  an  industry  that  is  the  direct  out- 
come of  scientific  research  is  a  valuable  set-off 
against  possible  depression  in  other  branches  of 
agriculture.  But  still  more  remarkable  are  the 
enormous  crops  of  potatoes  grown  in  Germany, 
and  the  various  purposes  to  which  they  are 
applied.  In  1901  the  total  production  there  was 
over  48,500,000  tons,  of  which  about  one  half 
would  be  used  for  other  purposes  than  human 
consumption.  The  Germans  themselves  are 
great  potato  eaters  ;  they  find  it  cheaper  to  feed 
their  cattle,  pigs,  sheep,  and  poultry  on  raw  or 
steamed  potatoes  than  to  depend  on  imported 


46  GERMANY 

maize  ;  while  desiccated  potatoes  are  now  exten- 
sively used  as  an  article  of  diet  in  the  German 
Army  and  Navy.  But  chemistry  long  since 
showed  that  there  were  other  uses,  besides  those 
of  direct  food  supplies,  to  which  the  potato  could 
be  put.  Most  people  are  aware  that  alcohol  is 
distilled  from  potatoes,  but  it  may  be  less  gener- 
ally known  that  in  Germany  there  is  a  great 
industry  in  the  production  from  potatoes  of  a 
spirit  used  for  driving  motors  and  engines,  for 
lighting,  both  in  the  public  streets  and  in  private 
houses,  for  heating,  and  also  for  cooking.  In  the 
course  of  a  single  year  a  total  of  2,000,000  tons 
of  potatoes,  valued  at  £2,500,000,  will  be  used 
for  distilling  purposes  alone,  the  residues  consti- 
tuting a  valuable  food  for  cattle.  For  potato 
starch  another  2,000,000  tons  a  year  will  be 
used,  and  of  this  starch  the  United  Kingdom 
imported  in  1901  close  on  24,000  tons.  Other 
products  of  the  potato  are  starch  syrup,  starch 
sugar,  dextrin,  and  potato  flour.  Germany's 
total  export  of  potato  flour  and  starch  in  1901 
amounted  to  46,000  tons,  nearly  double  the 
quantity  for  the  previous  year,  and  her  export 
of  dextrin  was  14,000  tons. 

One  gets  here  some  concrete  and  very  practi- 
cal examples  of  the  help  that  scientific  teaching 
may  render  to  agriculture  by  promoting,  among 


THE   NEED   FOR   COMBINATION  47 

other  things,  the  greater  utilization  of  farming 
products  for  economic  as  well  as  for  food  purposes, 
and  there  is  clearly  abundant  justification  for  all 
that  Germany  has  done  in  this  direction.  But  in 
the  particular  situation  in  which  the  German 
agriculturists  found  themselves  placed  in  their 
time  of  depression,  there  was  more  to  be  done 
than  could  be  comprised  in  even  the  most 
elaborate  scheme  of  technical  education.  Science 
could  tell  the  farmer  what  it  would  pay  him 
best  to  produce,  and  how  to  secure  big  crops ; 
but  it  left  him  to  his  own  resources  in  the  way 
of  raising  money,  and  of  selling  his  crops  to  the 
best  advantage.  It  was  in  these  circumstances 
that  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  possibilities 
of  co-operation,  and  soon  the  fact  was  recognized 
that  agricultural  co-operation  was  an  indispen- 
sable sequel  to  agricultural  instruction.  Co-' 
operation  has,  indeed,  been  described  by  an 
authority  on  the  subject  as  "  the  German 
farmer's  stronghold  and  bulwark,"  and  no  one 
who  is  acquainted  with  the  facts  will  fail  to 
admit  the  aptness  of  the  description. 

It  was  in  the  matter  of  finance  that  the  adop- 
tion of  the  co-operative  principle  assumed  one 
of  the  earliest  and  most  practical  of  its  varied 
forms  in  regard  to  German  agriculture.  Falling 
prices  and  other  adverse  circumstances  had  so 


48  GERMANY 

far  decreased  the  available  funds  of  the  farmers 
that  it  was  difficult  enough  for  many  of  them 
to  carry  on  their  ordinary  operations  in  their 
ordinary  way,  year  by  year,  without  embarking 
on  those  wider  undertakings  or  those  more 
costly  methods  which  agricultural  science  was 
opening  out  to  them.  In  these  conditions  it 
often  enough  became  a  matter  of  urgent  im- 
portance to  the  farmer  that  he  should  raise  a 
loan  which  would  enable  him  to  carry  on  until 
he  obtained  a  return  from  his  crops.  Such  a 
loan  might  make  all  the  difference  between 
comparative  success  and  absolute  failure.  But 
while  the  ordinary  banks  were  ready  enough  to 
advance  money  to  a  landowner  who  could  give 
them  a  mortgage  on  his  estates,  they  were 
reluctant  to  make  advances  to  individual  farmers 
on  nothing  but  their  personal  security,  and  their 
reluctance  increased  in  exact  proportion  to  the 
growing  needs  of  those  who  wished  to  borrow. 

The  way  out  of  the  difficulty  was  found  by  a 
resort  to  the  co-operative  credit  bank  system, 
under  which  the  joint  credit  of  the  whole  of 
the  members  of  an  association  is  used  for  the 
purpose  of  borrowing  money.  The  savings  and 
credit  banks  of  this  type  founded  by  Schulze- 
Delitzsch,  at  the  end  of  the  forties,  aimed  at 
promoting  the  interests  of  the  labouring,  artisan, 


CO-OPERATIVE   CREDIT   BANKS  49 

and  trading  classes  in  general,  rather  than  of 
the  agricultural  classes  in  particular,  and  they 
operated  on  a  wide  basis,  without  any  restriction 
as  to  locality.  The  Raiffeisen  banks,  on  the 
other  hand,  are  essentially  local  in  their  charac- 
ter, each  dealing  only  with  its  individual  members 
in  the  district  in  which  it  has  been  set  up ;  so 
that  any  individual  seeking  to  borrow  money 
from  the  bank  is  likely  to  be  known  alike  to  the 
manager  and  to  the  majority  of  the  other 
members.  Then  the  direction  of  the  Raiffeisen 
banks  is  purely  honorary,  being  controlled  by  a 
committee  of  the  shareholders,  who  receive  no 
remuneration,  and  loans  to  local  residents  are 
made  only  under  clearly  defined  limits  ;  whereas 
the  administration  of  the  Schulze-Delitzsch  banks 
are  paid  for  their  services,  and  the  loans  are  prac- 
tically unlimited,  according  to  circumstances. 

The  banks  formed  on  the  Schulze-Delitzsch 
principle  have  been  taken  great  advantage  of 
by  the  agricultural  as  well  as  by  the  industrial 
community  of  Germany  ;  but  it  is  the  Raiffeisen 
system,  with  its  more  thoroughly  co-operative 
basis,  that  has  especially  commended  itself  to 
the  German  farmers.  Its  fundamental  principle, 
not  simply  of  co-operation,  but  also  of  the  un- 
limited liability  of  the  members,  has  been  much 
criticized,  and  of  late  the  tendency  in  Germany 


5o  GERMANY 

has  been  to  modify  this  principle  so  far  as  to 
place  a  certain  limit  to  the  liability  of  in- 
dividuals in  the  starting  of  new  banks.  On  the 
other  hand  it  is  claimed  on  behalf  of  the 
Raiffeisen  institutions  of  Germany  that  there 
is  no  instance  on  record  of  a  member  having 
suffered  from  the  enforcement  of  the  rule  in 
question.  It  is  argued  that  the  existence  of 
such  a  rule  makes  the  members  careful  to  ad- 
vance money  only  to  those  whom  they  know  to 
be  trustworthy,  and  it  is  the  very  essence  of  a 
Raiffeisen  bank  that  it  should  operate  in  some 
village  or  small  town  where  everybody  is  known 
to  everybody  else. 

A  brief  experience  convinced  the  pioneers  of 
the  Raiffeisen  bank  movement  that  it  was  not 
sufficient  to  put  an  easy  credit  within  the  reach 
of  the  small  cultivator.  It  was  found  that  he 
needed  guidance  in  the  spending  of  the  money 
as  well.  Hence  the  banks,  in  addition  to  re- 
ceiving deposits  and  advancing  loans,  took  up 
the  business  of  ordinary  purchasing  societies  as 
well — a  procedure  which  excited  a  certain  degree 
of  hostility  on  the  part  of  the  purchasing 
societies,  which,  in  their  turn,  started  agri- 
cultural credit  banks  on  their  own  account. 

Of  Raiffeisen  banks  in  Germany  affiliated  to 
the  central  institution  at  Neuwied  there  are  now 


THE   KEY   TO   GERMANY'S   SUCCESS  51 

4,000.  Of  co-operative  credit  banks  in  general 
there  are  4,455  in  Prussia,  and  3,899  in  other 
German  States — a  total  of  8,354,  representing 
a  membership  of  close  on  1,500,000.  Some 
States  will  have  co-operative  credit  banks  in 
over  33  per  cent,  of  their  parishes,  and  50  per 
cent,  of  the  farmers  in  those  parishes  will  be 
members.  As  for  the  good  that  has  been  done 
by  such  institutions,  Mr.  F.  P.  Konig  says,  in  a 
report  on  "  Agriculture  in  Germany,"  issued  by 
the  Foreign  Office  :  "It  has  always  been  a  puzzle 
to  me  why  English  farmers  do  not  club  together 
and  form  similar  co-operative  banks  for  the  bene- 
fit of  all  concerned.  Co-operation  has  proved  to 
be  the  key  to  success  in  Germany,  and  has  saved 
many  thousands  of  farmers  from  ruin." 

But  there  are  many  other  directions  in  which 
the  combination  principle  has  been  applied  to 
agriculture  in  Germany,  besides  the  setting  up 
of  credit  banks.  Of  special  agricultural  societies 
for  the  purchase  of  artificial  manures,  feeding- 
stuffs,  machinery,  tools,  coals,  etc.  (in  addition 
to  what  the  banks  may  do  in  this  direction), 
there  are  426  in  Prussia  and  578  in  other 
German  States  —  a  total  of  over  1,000.  Of 
production  and  selling  societies  (representing, 
among  other  branches,  societies  for  the  sale  of 
seed,  fruit,  vegetables,  and  produce  of  all  kinds ; 


52  GERMANY 

silo  societies ;  the  German  Spirit  Syndicate ;  and 
societies  for  the  sale  of  cattle)  there  are  553  in 
Prussia  and  116  in  other  German  States — a 
total  of  669.  Of  dairy  produce  societies  there 
are  1,261  in  Prussia  and  421  in  other  German 
States— a  total  of  1,682.  ("As  the  co-operative 
system  of  dairying  has  increased  in  Germany," 
says  Mr.  Konig,  "dairies  have  almost  sprung 
up  as  fast  as  mushrooms.")  Then  most  of  the 
factories  established  of  late  years  in  Germany, 
and  especially  in  Saxony,  for  the  production  of 
sugar  from  beetroot,  have  been  set  up  on  the 
co-operative  system,  the  farmers  who  grow  and 
supply  the  beetroot  either  starting  the  factories 
themselves,  or  else  holding  shares  in  factories 
established  by  limited  liability  companies.  "  The 
cultivation  of  sugar  beet  in  Germany,"  Mr. 
Konig  remarks,  "has  made  many  a  man's  farm 
pay,  which  previously  was  only  kept  afloat  with 
difficulty ;  and  when  such  a  man,  in  addition 
to  growing  beetroot,  has  a  share  in  the  co- 
operative factory  in  which  it  is  turned  into 
sugar,  he  naturally  gets  a  double  advantage." 

The  total  amount  of  the  purchases  of  agri- 
cultural necessaries  effected  by  the  German 
credit  banks,  or  by  the  special  associations  for 
that  purpose,  during  1902,  is  stated  by  the 
annual  report  of  the  German  Confederated 


STEAM-THRESHERS  FOR  SMALL  FARMERS     53 

Co-operative   Societies    for  that  year  to   have 
been  £3,500,000. 

Co-operation,  again,  has  been  extensively 
resorted  to  in  Germany  in  the  formation  of 
societies  for  drainage  and  irrigation,  and  es- 
pecially for  the  purpose  of  reclaiming  bogs  and 
moorlands.  The  amount  of  land  so  reclaimed 
in  Germany  between  1878  and  1893  is  estimated 
at  over  700,000  acres,  and  much  of  this  land, 
on  which  nothing  but  heath  had  grown  before, 
now  ranks  as  among  the  most  productive  soil 
in  the  Empire.  Still  another  resort  to  agri- 
cultural co-operation  in  Germany  has  been  in 
regard  to  the  use  of  machinery.  Recent  statis- 
tics show  that  steam  threshing  machines  are 
used  there  on  no  fewer  than  35,000  farms  of 
less  than  five  acres  each.  Without  co-operation 
such  a  thing  would  be  altogether  impossible. 
In  some  instances  the  farmers  of  a  particular 
district  will  organize  a  society  for  the  purchase 
of  a  steam-plough,  letting  it  out  on  hire  to  their 
neighbours  when  they  are  not  using  it  them- 
selves. Then  in  the  wine  districts  of  Wiirtem- 
berg  the  smaller  growers — mostly  peasants- 
will  have  co-operative  societies  for  establishing 
cellars  where  the  wine  juice  can  be  kept  until 
it  ferments,  better  prices  being  thus  obtained 
when  it  is  sold; 


54  GERMANY 

The  local  agricultural  co-operative  societies 
in  Germany  are  supplemented  by  agricultural 
unions,  great  and  small,  which  have  been  a 
material  factor  in  improving  the  general  position. 
In  the  report  already  referred  to,  the  British  Con- 
sul at  Stuttgart  says,  respecting  these  unions  :— 

They  are  devoted  to  the  collection,  utilization,  and 
propagation  of  the  agricultural  knowledge  and  experi- 
ence gained  by  theory  and  practice,  and  to  the  furtherance 
of  the  interests  of  agriculture  in  its  commercial  and  eco- 
nomical aspects.  .  .  .  The  great  measure  of  success 
which  has  hitherto  crowned  the  efforts  of  the  agricul- 
tural unions  is  principally  owing  to  the  method  of 
organization,  which  seeks  to  unite  all  the  different 
branches  into  large  and  powerful  corporations  with  well 
defined  and  similar  objects.  Beginning  with  the  small 
local  unions,  there  follow  branch,  district,  and  county 
unions,  all  these  being  united  together  in  the  central  and 
provincial  agricultural  corporations  of  the  smaller  States 
and  provinces.  These  are  again  united  into  the  highest 
agricultural  corporations  of  the  larger  States,  which  often 
possess  a  semi-official  character — for  instance,  in  Prussia 
the  Land  Economy  Council,  in  Bavaria  the  Agricultural 
Council,  in  Saxony  the  Land  Cultivation  Council,  and  so 
forth.  The  apex  of  the  whole  organization  and  the 
highest  condensed  expression  of  German  agricultural 
wishes  is  embodied  in  the  Imperial  German  Agricultural 
Council.  In  addition  to  these  semi-official  representative 
agricultural  bodies,  there  exist  other  special  associations 
which  have  been  formed  for  the  purpose  of  furthering  the 
interests  of  special  branches  of  agriculture  or  agricultural 
industries. 


AGRICULTURAL   UNIONS  55 

One  of  the  bodies  in  question,  the  German 
Agricultural  Association,  has  a  membership  of 
13,000,  and  the  237  associations  in  Bavaria  have 
a  membership  of  56,000.  Organizations  such  as 
these  ought,  therefore,  to  exercise  a  considerable 
influence,  not  alone  on  the  economic,  but  also 
on  the  political,  position  of  agriculture  in 
Germany,  and  such  has  undoubtedly  been  the 
case  there  in  regard  to  recent  legislation. 

From  some  notes  contributed  to  the  Journal 
of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  and  Technical 
Instruction  for  Ireland,  for  December,  1903,  on 
"Agricultural  Co-operation  in  Germany,"  by 
Mr.  H.  de  F.  Montgomery,  I  learn  that  the 
total  number  of  registered  Agricultural  Co- 
operative Societies  in  the  German  Empire  on 
July  1st,  1903,  was  17,162.  This  figure  included 
678  new  savings  and  credit  banks  formed  during 
the  previous  twelve  months  (569  with  un- 
limited, and  109  with  limited  liability),  and  151 
miscellaneous  societies,  among  which  were  the 
following : — 

Societies  for  the  purchase  of  Steam  Threshers     35 

„       sale  of  Cattle  .  .  .     22 

„           „             „     Corn  .  .       4 

Wine-growers1  Societies  .  .  .18 

Cattle-breeding  Societies  .  .  .10 

Horse-breeding  Societies  .  7 

Egg  and  Poultry  Societies  .  .  .13 


56  GERMANY 

Distillery  Societies      .  .  .         .       3 

Irrigation  Societies      .  .  2 

Electricity  Societies     .  .  2 

Jam  Factory  Societies  .  2 

Steam-plough  Society  .  .         .1 

Fruit  Society               .  .  1 

Quoting  from  a  report  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Haas, 
chairman  of  the  Union  of  Agricultural  Co- 
operative Societies  in  Rhenish  Prussia,  Mr. 
Montgomery  also  mentions  a  parish  of  1,600 
inhabitants  in  Hanover  which  can  boast  of  five 
flourishing  agricultural  co-operative  associations, 
a  savings  and  credit  bank,  an  agricultural  supply 
society,  a  dairy  society,  an  egg  society,  a  milling 
society,  and  a  society  for  the  sale  of  cattle. 
*•  What,  therefore,  with  her  very  practical  and 
comprehensive  system  of  agricultural  education, 
her  elaborate  development  of  an  easy  and  most 
effective  agricultural  credit,  and,  finally,  her 
great  variety  of  agricultural  co-operative  associa- 
tions, Germany  may  well  claim  to  have  re- 
organized the  position  of  the  cultivators  of  her 
soil  in  a  way  that  has  brought  to  them  a  measure 
of  success,  and  to  herself  a  degree  of  economic 
advantage,  that  would  have  been  impossible  if, 
when  they  were  threatened  with  agricultural 
depression,  they  had  clung  tenaciously  to  old 
ideas  and  antiquated  methods. 


CHAPTER  V 
FRANCE 

TO  the  agriculturists  of  Great  Britain,  ac- 
customed to  regard  the  condition  of  their 
industry  as  one  of  almost  hopeless  depression, 
there  must  appear  to  be  something  remarkably 
strange  in  some  observations  made  by  M.  Meline 
at  a  gathering  held  at  the  Musee  Social,  Paris, 
on  October  31st,  1897,  when  the  results  of  a 
competition  among  the  Syndicats  Agricoles  of 
France  were  announced.  "  It  is,"  said  the  French 
Minister  of  Agriculture,  "  a  curious  fact,  and 
well  worthy  of  remark,  that  you  agriculturists 
have  nothing  to  learn  from  those  you  have  called 
to  meet  you  here.  It  is  from  that  world  of 
agriculture  which  for  so  long  seemed  to  be  given 
over  to  a  spirit  of  inveterate  routine,  and  to  be 
deprived  of  all  initiative,  that  there  has  pro- 
ceeded the  spark  which  should  regenerate  the 
modern  wrorld.  It  is  the  agricultural  interest 
which  has  been  the  first  to  understand  and  apply 
the  grand  formula  of  solidarity  and  mutuality 

57 


58  FRANCE 

which  contains  the  true  and  only  solution  of  the 
social  problem.  It  is  from  that  interest  that 
proceeds  the  immense  movement  which  is  in 
process  of  development  on  all  points  of  our 
territory,  and  which,  to-day,  has  only  begun." 

It  was  of  the  agriculture  of  France  alone  that 
M.  Meline  thus  spoke,  and  his  special  reference 
was  to  the  particular  form  of  agricultural 
association  that  the  said  "  Syndicats  Agricoles  " 
represent.  That  these  organizations  are  de- 
serving of  the  full  measure  of  praise  which  has 
been  lavished  upon  them  by  the  most  enthusi- 
astic of  their  promoters  may  be  open  to  a  certain 
degree  of  doubt,  for  the  position  of  agriculture 
in  France  to-day  offers  this  striking  contrast : 
that  whereas  in  many  respects  combination 
among  the  agriculturists  has  attained  to  a  fulness 
and  a  variety  of  development  not  to  be  surpassed 
by  any  other  country,  France  is,  on  the  other 
hand,  distinctly  behind  Denmark  and  Sweden  in 
regard  to  dairy  produce,  just  as  she  can  show 
nothing  to  compare  with  some  of  the  co- 
operative agricultural  associations  of  Germany. 

These  limitations  notwithstanding,  the  vast 
and  extremely  varied  network  of  agricultural 
combination  in  France  represented  by  these 
Syndicats  Agricoles,  and  the  material,  economic, 
and  social  results  that  have  followed  from  them, 


MEETING  AN   ECONOMIC  CRISIS  59 

present  a  subject  deserving  the  special  considera- 
tion of  those  who  are  in  any  way  interested  in 
the  question  of  agricultural  progress  in  general. 
The  historian  of  the  movement,  M.  le  Comte 
de  Rocquigny,  has  given  in  Les  Syndicate 
Agricoles  et  leur  (Euvre,  a  striking  account  of 
the  conditions  under  which  it  was  initiated. 
Towards  the  year  1884,  (he  writes) : — 

After  having  enjoyed  a  long  period  of  prosperity,  our 
agricultural  producers  began  to  suffer  experience  of  which 
no  one  could  see  the  end.  The  French  market,  which,  by 
reason  of  the  development  of  the  means  of  transport,  was 
no  longer  protected  by  the  natural  barrier  of  distance, 
began  to  be  flooded  with  foreign  commodities  produced  at 
a  cost  that  defied  all  competition.  Our  lands,  exhausted 
by  centuries  of  cultivation,  had  no  chance  against  the 
productions  of  virgin  soils,  or  of  countries  more  favourably 
situated  in  regard  to  taxation,  cost  of  labour,  etc.  The 
wheat  of  North  America,  India,  and  Russia,  the  wool  of 
Australia  and  La  Plata,  the  wines  of  Spain  and  Italy,  and 
even  the  cattle  of  Italy,  Germany,  the  Argentine  Republic, 
etc.,  took,  little  by  little,  on  our  markets  the  place  of  our 
home  supplies,  and  the  simple  threat  of  their  being  im- 
ported was  sufficient  to  effect  a  lowering  of  prices.  .  .  . 
The  national  market  existed  no  longer,  and  on  a  market 
which  had  become  universal,  and  was  affected  by  the 
slightest  fluctuations  that  reverberated  among  the  great 
centres  of  the  world,  the  French  cultivator  offered  an  easy 
prey  to  the  speculations  of  international  commerce. 

These  new  economic  conditions,  which  there  was  every 
reason  to  regard  as  permanent,  imposed  on  the  agricul- 
tural industry  a  profound  evolution. 


60  FRANCE 

It  was  necessary  to  organize  for  the  struggle,  to  realize 
promptly  all  the  possible  opportunities  for  progress,  to  de- 
crease the  cost  of  production,  and  to  improve  the  methods 
alike  of  production  and  of  sale.  For  the  attainment  of  these 
ends  the  old  agricultural  associations  were  but  ill-prepared. 
It  no  longer  sufficed  merely  to  spread  technical  knowledge 
and  to  give  prizes  and  awards  to  agriculturists  at  period- 
ical exhibitions. 

In  reading  these  remarks  it  is  impossible  not 
to  be  struck  by  the  similarity  between  the  condi- 
tions thus  developed  in  France  and  those  that 
arose  in  Great  Britain — a  country  that  was,  in 
fact,  still  more  open  to  "  the  speculations  of 
international  commerce " ;  and  the  conclusion 
must  be  drawn  that  there  was  as  much  need  for 
foresight  and  energy  to  be  shown  in  this  country, 
in  the  way  of  organizing  for  the  coming  struggle, 
as  was  the  case  in  France. 

There,  at  least,  the  new  economic  conditions 
were  met  in  a  way  that  was  eminently  practical, 
though  the  very  small  beginnings  offered  no 
suggestions  of  the  great  things  that  were  to 
follow  later  on.  A  certain  M.  Tauviray,  depart- 
mental professor  of  agriculture  at  Blois,  found  in 
the  early  eighties  that  there  was  great  difficulty 
in  getting  the  agriculturists  to  use  for  their  im- 
poverished lands  the  fertilizers  which  agricultural 
chemistry  was  offering  to  them ;  but  he  saw, 
also,  that  their  reluctance  was  not  unnatural. 


ORIGIN  OF  AGRICULTURAL  SYNDICATES      61 

Apart  from  the  ignorance  and  the  prejudices  of 
the  farmers  in  respect  to  the  use  of  artificial 
manures,  the  producers  thereof,  having  to  send 
out  travellers  and  push  a  business  then  far  from 
active,  charged  high  prices,  and,  what  was  still 
worse,  sent  out  adulterated  or  inferior  qualities. 
M.  Tauviray's  happy  inspiration  was  to  get  all 
the  farmers  in  a  certain  district  to  join  together 
in  sending  in  one  big  order,  by  means  of  which 
they  would  be  able  to  purchase  at  a  less  price, 
get  lower  railway  rates,  and,  also,  be  in  a  better 
position  to  secure  a  guarantee  of  quality.  A 
combination  with  these  objects  in  view  was 
brought  about  in  1883,  and  when,  in  March, 
1884,  organizations  of  this  type  acquired  a  legal 
status  in  France,  many  more  of  such  purchase 
associations  followed.  The  use  of  the  fertilizers 
was  found  to  yield  increased  crops  at  a  reduced 
cost,  and  the  operation  of  the  new  syndicates 
obviated  all  the  difficulties  previously  ex- 
perienced. So  the  movement  for  the  establish- 
ment of  agricultural  syndicates  spread,  in  course 
of  time,  throughout  the  whole  of  France- — 
though  they  were  more  numerous  in  some  parts 
thereof  than  in  others — while  in  proportion  as 
their  utility  was  more  and  more  recognized,  the 
scope  of  their  activity  widened.  Seeds  and 
feeding- stuffs  were  purchased  in  wholesale  lots, 


62  FRANCE 

the  same  as  fertilizers.  So  were  tools  and  agri- 
cultural appliances  of  various  kinds,  while  special 
syndicates  either  procured  agricultural  machinery 
too  costly  for  individual  farmers  to  get  for  them- 
selves and  let  it  out  on  hire,  or  enabled  farmers 
to  purchase  on  special  terms. 

In  these  and  other  ways  there  was,  in  the  first 
instance,  a  direct  appeal  to  the  material  interests 
of  the  agriculturists.  Other  considerations  were 
to  be  advanced  later  on,  but  the  leaders  of  the 
new  movement  had  the  good  fortune  to  win  the 
early  sympathy  of  the  farming  community  by 
the  offer  of  practical  advantages  which  prepared 
for  further  considerable  developments  of  the 
combination  principle  a  class  of  men  who,  in 
France,  as  in  England,  might  well  be  regarded 
as  the  least  likely  to  co-operate  for  the  achieve- 
ment of  a  common  purpose. 

By  1886  there  were  already  so  many  of  the 
new  type  of  associations  in  existence  that  a 
"  Union  Centrale  des  Syndicats  des  Agricul- 
teurs  de  France  "  was  created  through  the  inter- 
mediary of  the  Socie'te'  des  Agriculteurs  de 
France,  which  society  was  formed  in  1868,  and 
has  12,000  members,  but  represents  a  body  of 
a  more  academical  type  than  the  syndicates, 
though  it  is  one  that  has  done  much  for  the 
promotion  of  the  agricultural  interests  of  the 


A   PARLIAMENT   OF   AGRICULTURISTS        63 

country.  The  Union  Centrale  has  not  secured 
the  adhesion  of  all  the  agricultural  associations 
throughout  France,  but  it  represents  1,126  of 
them,  with  a  membership  estimated  at  350,000, 
and  its  annual  conferences  in  Paris  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  Lower  House  of  a  French  Agri- 
culturists' Parliament,  the  Upper  House  being 
the  Socie'te  des  Agriculteurs.  When  the  resolu- 
tions adopted  by  the  one  body  have  been  ap- 
proved by  the  other,  and  passed  on  to  the 
Ministers  or  other  authorities,  they  represent 
a  weight  of  agricultural  opinion  to  which  there 
is  nothing  to  correspond  in  Great  Britain. 

The  Union  Centrale  in  Paris  has  been  supple- 
mented by  forty  provincial  and  other  minor 
federations.  Most  of  these  also  hold  annual 
conferences,  at  which,  as  in  Paris,  questions 
affecting  all  kinds  of  agricultural  interests  are 
discussed.  Nor  are  the  views  of  such  provincial 
unions  to  be  despised,  considering  that  the  Union 
du  Sud-est,  for  example,  alone  comprises  303 
affiliated  associations,  which  have  a  total  of 
80,000  members.  According  to  the  Annuaire 
des  Syndicate  Professionnek,  published  by  the 
Minister  of  Commerce,  the  number  of  agricul- 
tural associations  in  France  whose  formation  had 
been  officially  notified  up  to  January  1st,  1903, 
was  2,433,  and  the  total  membership  was 


64  FRANCE 

599,000.  Included  in  this  total  were  6,238 
women. 

In  the  same  year  that  the  Union  Centrale  was 
formed  there  was  also  established  a  Syndicat 
Central  des  Agriculteurs  de  France,  which 
opened  an  office  in  Paris  (1)  to  facilitate  the 
sale  of  agricultural  products  ;  and  (2)  to  further 
group  the  orders  for  agricultural  necessaries 
collected  and  combined  by  the  different  federa- 
tions of  syndicates  from  the  individual  associa- 
tions, purely  commercial  purposes  such  as  these 
being  considered  beyond  the  scope  of  the  Union 
Centrale.  No  great  degree  of  success  has  been 
obtained  by  this  Syndicat  Central  in  regard  to 
the  sale  of  agricultural  products,  but  the  pur- 
chases it  effects  amount  to  about  £2,000,000 
a  year.  This,  however,  does  not  represent  any- 
thing like  the  sum  total  of  the  business  done  by 
the  associations  as  a  whole,  many  of  them  pur- 
chasing through  their  provincial  unions,  or  group- 
ing their  orders  locally.  There  are  twenty-five 
associations  alone  whose  purchases  represent  a 
grand  total  of  £900,000 ;  and  it  is  calculated 
that  the  money  spent  by  the  whole  of  the  asso- 
ciations would  amount  to  £8,000,000  a  year. 

Such,  in  fact,  is  the  magnitude  of  the  orders 
given  under  the  "  grouping  "  system  that  in  cer- 
tain commodities  the  agricultural  associations 


COLLECTIVE   PURCHASE  65 

control  the  markets.  They  secure  a  threefold 
advantage:  (1)  They  get  wholesale  prices  from 
the  manufacturers  instead  of  retail,  these  prices 
being  made  still  lower  by  the  fact  that  the 
manufacturer,  dealing  direct  with  an  association 
or  union,  incurs  less  expense  for  travellers,  etc. ; 
(2)  the  quality  has  to  stand  the  tests  of  the 
association's  experts ;  and  (3)  lower  railway 
rates  are  obtained  because  the  consignments  are 
sent  to  central  depots  in  waggon-load  lots  instead 
of  small  quantities,  as  in  former  days.  So  the 
small  cultivator  who  buys  a  couple  of  sacks  of 
fertilizers  or  feeding-stuffs  through  his  association 
gets  just  the  same  advantages  in  price,  quality, 
and  railway  rates  as  a  large  farmer  who  orders 
his  five  or  ten  tons.  These  facilities,  combined 
with  the  skilled  advice  given  free  by  the  associa- 
tions, have  led  to  a  very  great  increase  in  the 
use  of  fertilizers  in  France,  and  many  factories 
have  been  set  up  in  that  country  for  their  pro- 
duction, while  a  decrease  of  from  40  to  50  per 
cent,  has  been  effected  in  the  prices  as  compared 
with  what  they  were  before  the  advent  of  the 
agricultural  associations.  One  factory  in  France 
which  turns  out  15,000,000  kilos,  the  year  dis- 
poses of  12,000,000  kilos,  of  that  quantity  to 
agricultural  associations  alone. 

Another  of  the  central  organizations  brought 


66  FRANCE 

into  existence  as  part  of  the  general  movement 
was  the  Syndicat  Economique  Agricole  de 
France,  a  propagandist  body  composed  of  the 
most  active  members  of  the  departmental 
syndicates,  and  formed  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
fluencing public  opinion  on  agricultural  questions 
by  means  of  publications,  conferences,  etc.,  and 
to  conduct,  in  general,  the  campaigns  by  which 
the  views  expressed  at  the  representative  gather- 
ings of  agriculturists  might  be  carried  to  a 
successful  issue.  This  body  is  especially  active 
on  the  eve  of  general  elections  in  France,  and  to 
its  energy  is  ascribed  the  original  formation,  in 
1889,  of  the  agricultural  party  in  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies. 

Mention  should  also  be  made  of  a  Syndicat 
dTndustrie  Agricole,  the  object  of  which  is  to 
assist  small  cultivators  to  carry  on  their  holdings 
by  helping  them  to  obtain  the  necessary  imple- 
ments or  machinery,  much  having  been  done  in 
this  way  to  improve  the  conditions  under  which 
agricultural  operations  are  conducted,  thus  stimu- 
lating the  production. 

Besides  the  associations  which  seek  to  promote 
the  interests  of  agriculturists  in  general,  there 
are  many  which  apply  to  special  industries. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  Syndicat 
Pomologique  de  France,  founded  at  Rennes,  in 


ASSOCIATIONS   FOR   SPECIAL   INDUSTRIES     67 

1891,  by  a  group  of  cider-makers ;  the  Syndicat 
General  des  Sericulteurs  de  France ;  the  Syndicat 
des  Distillateurs  Agricoles ;  the  Syndicat  des 
Eleveurs  de  Chevaux  en  France ;  the  Chambre 
Syndicat  Centrale  des  Horticulteurs ;  with  others 
organized  by  market  gardeners  (especially  those 
who  raise  early  vegetables),  nurserymen,  the 
growers  of  vines,  beetroot,  tobacco,  and  medical 
plants,  bee-keepers,  etc.  Such  organizations  seek 
to  promote  the  general  interests  of  the  industries 
concerned  by  means  alike  of  spreading  technical 
information,  grouping  purchases  of  necessaries, 
facilitating  the  sale  of  products,  or  making  joint 
representation,  in  case  of  need,  on  the  subject  of 
market  tolls,  railway  rates,  etc. 

No  better  illustration  could  be  given  of  the 
way  in  which  combinations  of  this  type  are 
resorted  to  in  France  than  is  afforded  by  the 
case  of  the  little  commune  of  Roquevaire 
(Provence).  The  place  has  a  great  reputation  for 
capers,  which  constitute  its  chief  production.  At 
one  time  the  inhabitants  were  content  to  grow 
the  capers,  and  sell  them  to  wholesale  merchants  ; 
but  they  found  that  these  merchants  were 
mixing  with  the  high  quality  capers  from 
Roquevaire  others  of  an  inferior  kind  from 
Algeria  and  Spain,  the  fame  of  the  former  being 
thereby  endangered.  To  check  this  evil  the 


68  FRANCE 

local  growers  formed  a  co-operative  association 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  the  trade  them- 
selves. Instead  of  sending  the  capers  to  the 
merchants  as  before,  they  employed  their  own 
wives  and  children  on  the  further  processes  of 
sorting,  pickling,  etc.,  and  they  opened  up 
negotiations  with  wholesale  houses  in  England, 
Germany,  Russia,  Sweden  and  Norway,  and  the 
United  States,  establishing  a  business  which  now 
represents  a  total  of  about  200,000  francs  the 
year.  The  experiment  answered  so  well,  in  fact, 
that  they  followed  it  with  another.  Consider- 
able quantities  of  apricots  are  grown  at  Roque- 
vaire,  as  well  as  capers,  and  these  apricots  were 
formerly  sold  to  makers  of  preserves  at  Marseilles. 
Some  years,  however,  the  growers  had  practically 
no  return  from  the  fruit,  and  they  resolved  to  no 
longer  send  it  to  Marseilles,  but  to  convert  it 
into  preserve  themselves,  and  work  up  a  trade 
with  grocers,  confectioners,  and  others.  This 
they  have  done,  and  they  calculate  that  they 
now  secure  from  30  to  40  per  cent,  more  profit 
from  the  apricots  than  they  ever  made  before. 

Among  other  special  combinations  which  have 
grouped  producers  for  the  purposes  of  collective 
export  to  the  English  markets  I  may  mention 
the  following: — Syndicat  Agricole  du  Comtat, 
Carpentras  (Vancluse),  strawberries ;  Syndicat 


COLLECTIVE   EXPORT  69 

Agricole  de  Gaillon  (Eure),  cherries,  pears,  etc. ; 
Syndicat  Agricole  de  Quincy-Segy  (Seine-et- 
Marne),  black  currants,  pears,  etc. ;  Syndicat 
des  Viticulteurs  de  Thomery  (Seine-et-Marne), 
grapes  ("raisins  de  Chasselas,"  a  white  variety, 
chiefly  grown  at  or  near  Fontainebleau,  and 
celebrated  for  their  sweetness) ;  Syndicat  Agri- 
cole  de  Linas  (Seine-et-Oise),  tomatoes  and 
fruits;  "La  Syndicate"  de  Groslay  (Seine-et- 
Oise),  fruits  and  vegetables ;  Syndicat  des  Jar- 
diniers  de  Nantes  (Loire  Inf.),  fruits  and  vege- 
tables ;  Union  des  Producteurs  d'Oignons  a 
Fleur  (Toulon),  bulbs ;  Syndicat  des  Proprie- 
taires  et  Fermiers,  Ollioules  (Var),  bulbs ;  and 
the  Societe  Cooperative  de  Tullins-Fures  (Isere), 
walnuts  ("noix  du  Dauphine  ").  To  this  list  I 
will  only  add  that  a  large  number  of  associations 
in  Provence  make  from  the  olives  grown  by 
their  members  an  oil  of  excellent  quality,  for 
which  there  is  said  to  be  a  large  demand. 

The  results  of  collective  action  in  securing  for 
the  people  advantages  that  could  not  have  been 
hoped  for  from  individual  effort  were  so  striking 
in  all  these  various  ways  that  the  principle  was 
followed  up  in  many  other  directions  besides. 
Associations  were,  for  instance,  formed  for  the 
common  defence  of  crops  against  different  causes 
of  destruction  or  depredations,  among  them 


70  FRANCE 

being  Syndicats  de  Hannetonage,  organized  in 
various  departments  to  wage  war  against  the 
May-beetle ;  associations  to  take  precautionary 
measures  against  phylloxera ;  and  even,  at  one 
time,  associations  for  the  protection  of  vines 
from  frost  in  the  early  spring.  The  last- 
named  result  was  to  be  obtained  by  lighting  in 
the  vineyards  bonfires  in  which  were  burned 
substances  that  produced  dense  smoke,  the  pre- 
sence of  which,  especially  on  a  still  night,  should 
serve  the  same  purpose  as  clouds  in  preventing 
the  radiation  of  heat  from  the  ground.  Whether 
because  the  desired  degree  of  success  was  not 
attained,  or  because  the  expense  was  too  great, 
only  a  few  of  these  particular  associations  have 
survived ;  but  the  fact  of  their  being  started  at 
all  shows  the  readiness  of  the  people  to  co-operate 
for  the  promotion  of  mutual  interests. 

Then,  in  order  to  still  further  reduce  expenses, 
so  that  farmers  would  be  better  able  to  meet  the 
falling  prices,  various  associations  started  the 
idea  of  grouping  their  members  to  allow  of 
better  terms  being  made  with  the  fire  insurance 
companies.  Such  grouping  meant  for  the  com- 
panies not  only,  as  it  were,  "  wholesale  lots  "  of 
policy-holders  of  an  especially  desirable  type,  but 
the  incurring  of  less  cost  in  the  collection  of 
premiums  ;  and  where  the  associations  could  deal 


OTHER   FORMS   OF   COMBINATION  71 

direct  with  the  insurance  companies  they  were 
enabled  to  arrange  substantial  reductions  for 
their  members.  In  those  cases  where  the  middle- 
man, in  the  form  of  an  agent,  was  not  to  be 
dispensed  with,  the  association  got  itself  recog- 
nized as  a  sub-agent,  the  agent  proper  consent- 
ing to  a  reduction  of  his  commission  because  he 
was  saved  a  good  deal  of  labour.  In  the  same 
way  agriculturists  were  encouraged  to  ensure 
more  freely  against  accidents,  and  eventually 
there  was  formed  a  "  Caisse  Syndicate  d' Assur- 
ance Mutuelle  des  Agriculteurs  de  France  contre 
les  Accidents  du  Travail  Agricole,"  dealing  ex- 
clusively with  members  of  agricultural  organiza- 
tions. Special  combinations  were  likewise  formed 
for  the  insurance  of  live  stock  and  for  the  insur- 
ance of  crops  against  hail. 

The  fundamental  idea  of  the  agricultural 
combination  thus  spread  throughout  the  land — 
that,  namely,  of  "helping  one  another" — re- 
ceived a  still  wider  expansion  in  the  formation 
of  what  were  practically  Farmers'  Mutual  Aid 
Societies.  This  phase  of  the  general  movement 
was  started  in  1888  by  the  Syndicat  Agricole  du 
Canton  de  Belleville-sur-Saone,  which  arranged 
that  whenever  one  of  its  poorer  members  fell 
sick,  or  met  with  an  accident,  the  others  should 
each  do  a  day's  work  for  him,  in  turn,  on  his 


72  FRANCE 

farm  or  holding.  Other  associations  did  the 
same,  and  then,  as  they  accumulated  funds, 
they  provided  their  members  with  medical 
attendance  and  financial  help,  they  established 
a  system  of  old-age  pensions,  and  they  also  made 
provision  for  the  support  of  orphans. 

To  the  educational  work  carried  on  by  the 
agricultural  associations  a  considerable  degree 
of  importance  must  be  attached.  From  the 
very  outset  they  sought  not  only  to  enable 
farmers  and  small  cultivators  to  purchase  fertil- 
izers, but  to  instruct  them  thoroughly  concern- 
ing their  use  and  purpose.  In  this  way  it  was 
that  they  began  their  work  of  promoting  the 
higher  education  of  the  French  agriculturist. 
They  continued  it  by  issuing  periodicals  and 
almanacs,  to  which  the  leading  authorities  in 
agricultural  science  sent  contributions  written 
in  popular  style  ;  they  published  text-books  and 
established  libraries ;  they  engaged  professors  of 
agriculture  who  delivered  lectures,  gave  free 
consultations,  carried  out  analyses,  and  directed 
experimental  farms ;  and  they  have  followed  up 
with  much  zeal  a  movement  started  in  Brittany, 
in  1892,  for  giving  elementary  instruction  in 
agricultural  subjects  in  the  primary  schools, 
certificates  and  diplomas  being  awarded  to  the 
children  who  pass  examinations  therein. 


SOCIAL  ADVANTAGES  73 

From  a  social  standpoint  it  is  claimed  that  the 
associations  have  done  much  to  strengthen  the 
feeling  of  a  community  of  interests  between 
the  different  classes  in  rural  districts,  to  invest 
country  life  with  increased  attractions,  and  to 
widen  the  expanse  of  the  agriculturist's  horizon 
in  general.  Most  of  the  associations  are  of  what 
is  known  as  a  "mixed"  type — that  is  to  say, 
large  landowners  and  small  occupiers,  farmers 
and  agricultural  labourers,  will  all  be  members 
of  the  same  organization,  and  meet  in  friendly 
intercourse  to  discuss  subjects  of  common  in- 
terest. People  have  thus  been  brought  together 
who  previously  may  have  been  strangers  or  even 
more  or  less  enemies.  In  the  relations  so  es- 
tablished is  seen,  in  addition  to  other  advantages, 
one  of  the  greatest  safeguards  against  the  spread 
of  socialistic  doctrines  in  rural  France,  and  one 
of  the  best  possible  guarantees  alike  for  friendly 
settlement  of  any  question  that  may  arise 
between  the  various  classes,  and  for  the  general 
maintenance  of  social  peace.  Many  of  the  asso- 
ciations have  even  established  boards  of  concilia- 
tion and  arbitration  by  which  disputes  among 
their  members  can  be  arranged ;  and  many,  also, 
have  supplemented  their  help  to  the  indigent 
sick,  their  old-age  pensions,  and  their  mainten- 
ance of  orphans,  by  opening  labour  bureaux 


74  FRANCE 

where  every  facility  is  offered  to  unemployed 
agriculturists  to  get  work.  The  meetings  of  the 
associations,  and  especially  the  annual  confer- 
ences of  the  unions  and  the  banquets  that 
follow  them,  afford  an  agreeable  change  to  the 
generally  dull  routine  of  country  life.  Even 
the  weekly  visits  to  the  market  towns  have  in 
many  places  been  invested  with  greater  interest 
by  the  provision  of  comfortable  rooms  where 
members  of  an  association  can  go  with  their 
wives  and  children  (should  these  be  with  them), 
meet  one  another,  rest  and  refresh,  and  hold 
friendly  conference  on  questions  of  mutual 
interest. 

All  these  things  are  helping  to  render  rural 
life  in  France  pleasanter  and  more  attractive, 
at  the  same  time  that  the  material  con- 
siderations already  detailed  have  distinctly 
improved  the  agricultural  outlook  in  general. 
And  yet,  the  organization  movement  in  that 
country  is  still  incomplete,  especially  if  we 
compare  the  conditions  of  the  French  dairy 
industry  with  those  of  the  same  industry  in 
Denmark. 

A  certain  number  of  syndicates  have,  it  is 
true,  been  formed  in  France  for  the  carrying 
on  of  co-operative  dairies  on  the  Danish  model, 
and  these  are  especially  to  be  found  in  the 


THE   FRENCH   DAIRY   SYSTEM  75 

Charente  districts,  on  the  west  coast,  substantial 
quantities  of  dairy  produce  being  sent  thence  to 
the  Paris  markets.  As  regards,  however,  most 
of  the  butter  exported  to  Great  Britain,  the 
methods  in  vogue  are  still  mainly  those  that 
Denmark  abandoned  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago.  Each  farmer  makes  his  own  particular 
lot  of  butter,  and  takes  it  to  the  local  market. 
There  it  is  bought  by  a  commission  agent,  and 
he  in  turn  disposes  of  it  to  the  wholesale 
merchant,  who  thus  receives  into  his  "  blending 
mill "  the  dairy  produce  of  a  wide  district,  re- 
presenting, it  may  be,  a  considerable  number 
of  different  "  makes  "  of  butter.  Expert  em- 
ployes will  sort  out  the  purchases  into  five 
different  classes,  and  the  quantities  representing 
each  class  will  then  be  worked  up  afresh  and 
blended  together,  so  as  to  present  a  uniform 
quality.  All  this  is,  of  course,  very  different 
from  the  Danish  system,  under  which  the 
farmers  bring  in  their  milk  to  a  central  depot, 
where  the  cream  is  separated  from  it,  the  butter 
as  exported  being  produced  in  one  operation 
from  the  combined  supplies. 

In  Denmark,  too,  the  farmers  get  most  of 
the  profit  for  themselves,  whereas  in  France 
the  farmers  are  not  only  put  to  greater  trouble 
and  expense,  but  they  must  be  content  with 


76  FRANCE 

a  very  modest  return,  because  the  middleman 
maker  wants  his  profit  as  well,  and  because  of 
the  further  cost  of  production  necessitated  by 
the  blending  mill  operations.  Before  Denmark 
secured  so  strong  a  position  on  British  markets, 
the  French  butter  exporters  made  large  fortunes 
from  the  business.  The  opportunity  came  with 
the  Franco-German  War,  which  closed  the  Paris 
markets  for  a  time,  and  caused  them  to  look  for 
an  alternative  outlet  in  Great  Britain — a  pro- 
cedure which  answered  so  well  that  in  some 
instances  the  present-day  representatives  of 
butter -blending  mills,  originally  started  in  a 
very  small  way,  are  owners  of  chateaux,  and  are 
locally  regarded  as  "butter -kings,"  while  the 
French  farmer  still  drives  to  market  with  hi^ 
weekly  tub  of  butter,  regarding  his  commercial 
rulers  with  the  greater  awe,  perhaps,  because  he 
may  be  indebted  to  them  for  pecuniary  advances 
made  to  him  in  times  of  need. 

Of  the  adaptations  of  Danish  methods  which 
have,  thus  far,  been  brought  about  in  France, 
one  of  the  most  interesting  is  at  Cherbourg. 
An  English  firm,  with  the  help  of  a  Danish 
manager,  has  there  set  up  a  factory  in  which 
the  cream  is  separated  from  the  milk  obtained 
from  385  farmers  in  the  surrounding  district. 
After  being  pasteurised,  and  having  a  preserve- 


THE   GROUPING   OF   PRODUCTS  77 

tive  added,  it  is  despatched  by  the  London  and 
South  Western  Railway  Company's  boats  to 
Southampton,  en  route  for  London,  the  output 
of  the  factory  representing  from  200  to  300 
gallons  of  cream  a  day. 

This  concern  is  not  a  co-operative  one,  but 
it  nevertheless  illustrates  the  important  fact  that 
even  where,  in  France,  there  is  no  actual  co- 
operation among  the  agriculturists,  there  may 
still  be  such  a  grouping  of  products  gathered 
in  from  a  wide  area  as  to  eventually  represent 
very  large  quantities  to  be  consigned  by  a  single 
firm  or  trader,  instead  of  a  multiplicity  of  small 
lots  forwarded  by  individual  producers ;  and  from 
the  point  of  view  alike  of  the  railway  companies, 
in  their  charge  for  waggon -loads,  and  of  the 
British  grower  who  sees  huge  consignments  of 
foreign  produce  passing  his  doors,  the  point  as  to 
who  are  the  consignors  of  such  loads  is  a  matter 
of  detail.  It  may  be  of  interest  if  I  give  one  or 
two  more  illustrations  of  how,  even  without  direct 
co-operation,  these  huge  consignments  may  still 
be  got  together. 

In  regard  to  eggs  France  is  distinctly  behind 
Denmark  in  her  system  of  collection  and  export, 
and  this  may  be  one  reason  why,  as  already 
mentioned  in  Chapter  II.,  French  consignments 
of  eggs  to  this  country  have  fallen  off  so  much 


78  FRANCE 

of  late  years.  But,  if  her  methods  are  primitive, 
they  show  a  degree  of  enterprise  on  the  part  of 
her  people  which  is  deserving  of  commendation. 
In  Brittany,  for  example,  every  peasant  keeps 
fowls,  whether  he  has  any  land  or  not,  and  these 
fowls  play  the  role  of  the  Irish  tenant's  pig  in 
helping  to  pay  the  rent.  Nor  has  the  peasant 
of  Brittany  any  trouble  in  disposing  of  the  eggs. 
There  are  women  and  boys  who  make  a  regular 
living  by  going  round  the  country  collecting 
eggs  at  the  farms  and  cottages.  They  start  in 
the  morning  with  a  certain  sum  of  money  in 
their  pockets,  and  a  wooden  crate  for  the  eggs 
fastened  on  to  their  shoulders  by  means  of 
webbing;  they  tramp  along  lanes  and  paths 
which  would  be  impassable  for  horses  and 
vehicles,  even  if  they  could  afford  such  luxuries ; 
they  call  on  the  peasants  on  appointed  days, 
when  they  know  that  a  little  collection  of  eggs 
will  be  awaiting  them;  they  pay  ready  money 
for  what  they  buy,  and  they  bring  a  good 
quantity  of  eggs  back  with  them  in  the  evening, 
selling  them,  at  a  profit  of  one  halfpenny  a  dozen, 
either  direct  to  the  packer  at  St.  Malo,  or  to 
a  local  tradesman  who  drives  periodically  to  that 
port,  and  will  take  the  eggs  with  him,  himself 
making  a  profit  on  them.  The  packer  examines 
each  egg,  rejecting  those  that  are  doubtful, 


BLACKBERRIES   BY   THE   TON  79 

grades  them,  and  makes  them  up  in  cases  for 
export.  The  business  organized  on  these  lines 
brings,  in  the  aggregate,  a  substantial  sum  of 
money  to  the  peasantry  of  the  district. 

Still  more  striking  is  the  story  that  can  be 
told  concerning  blackberries.  A  ton  of  black- 
berries, all  picked  from  hedges  in  the  fields  or 
along  the  country  lanes,  will  appear  a  prodigious 
quantity  to  the  average  householder,  and  a 
record  seemed,  indeed,  to  have  been  reached  a 
few  years  ago,  when  150  tons  of  blackberries 
were  exported  from  St.  Malo  to  England.  But 
that  figure  is  entirely  overshadowed  by  the  fact 
that  during  the  autumn  of  1903  the  total  quan- 
tity of  blackberries  sent  from  St.  Malo  to  this 
country  was  no  less  than  773  tons  !  Even  then 
the  supply  was  not  equal  to  the  demand,  in 
a  season  when  fruit  was  exceptionally  scarce. 
One  English  dealer  alone  telegraphed  to  St. 
Malo  saying  that  he  would  take  200  tons  of 
blackberries,  if  he  could  get  them. 

By  what  means  are  these  hundreds  of  tons  of 
blackberries  got  together  in  this  one  particular 
corner  of  France  ?  There  is  no  horticultural 
syndicate  there  to  promote  the  culture  of  black- 
berries, or  to  organize  the  sale  thereof;  but 
those  said  tons  are  collected  and  sent  off  all  the 
same,  the  persons  chiefly  concerned  being  women 


8o  FRANCE 

and  children.  The  peasantry  throughout  Brit- 
tany know  that  there  is  money  to  be  made  by 
picking  blackberries  to  send  to  England,  and 
every  few  days  during  the  season — especially  on 
Thursdays,  the  school  holiday — the  women  and 
children  of  a  household  will  turn  out  with  their 
tins  and  basins,  and  gather  what  blackberries  they 
can.  These  they  put  together,  and  take  in  the 
afternoon  or  evening  to  some  village  tradesman 
— no  matter  in  what  line  of  business  he  may 
be — who  owns  a  horse  and  trap,  and  has  deal- 
ings with  St.  Malo.  The  tradesmen  will  give  at 
the  rate  of  about  eight  centimes  a  pound  for  the 
blackberries,  and  as  every  centime  has  its  value 
in  the  eyes  of  the  essentially  thrifty  French 
peasant,  the  money  thus  earned  represents  an 
acceptable  addition  to  the  weekly  income.  As 
for  the  tradesman,  when,  probably,  most  of  the 
families  in  the  village  are  out  collecting,  he  may 
expect  to  have  a  good  supply  by  the  evening  to 
take  to  the  wholesale  exporter  at  St.  Malo,  from 
whom  he  will  receive  a  price  that  gives  him 
about  two  centimes  per  pound  profit. 

Applying  this  method  of  collection  to  practi- 
cally every  village  or  hamlet  within  a  radius  of, 
say,  a  dozen  miles  of  St.  Malo,  one  will  cease  to 
wonder  how  it  is  that  the  French  wholesale  fruit 
merchant  manages  to  get  together  blackberries 


WHY   NOT  CORNWALL?  81 

by  the  ton  for  consignment  to  the  English 
market.  As  for  the  peasantry,  their  receipt  of 
eight  centimes  per  pound  for  picking  773  tons  of 
blackberries  during  the  season  means  that  the 
business  put  into  their  pockets  no  less  a  sum 
than  £5,541.  The  average  price  at  which  the 
St.  Malo  exporter  sold  to  the  English  merchant 
ranged  from  £10  to  £12  per  ton,  though  some 
of  the  consignments  realized  as  much  as  £14  per 
ton.  Even  taking  the  lowest  of  these  figures, 
one  finds  that  during  the  autumn  of  1903  a  sum 
of  £7,730  was  paid  for  blackberries  brought  to 
England  from  a  single  French  port. 

The  question  may  well  be  asked  why  this 
money  should  have  gone  to  France  when  in 
Cornwall  and  other  parts  of  our  own  country 
there  were  blackberries  equally  fine  that  were 
left  to  rot  on  the  bushes,  either  because  people 
would  not  go  to  the  trouble  of  picking  them,  or 
because  there  was  no  one  enterprising  enough 
to  carry  out  there  the  method  of  collection  that 
answers  so  well  in  France. 

The  answer  that  "distressed  agriculture" 
would  probably  make  is,  "  Oh,  the  railway 
rates  in  England  are  so  high  that  the  business 
could  never  be  made  to  pay."  In  anticipation 
of  such  a  reply  I  have  asked  the  General 
Manager  of  the  London  and  South  Western 


82 


FRANCE 


Railway  to  favour  me  with  a  statement  showing 
the  rates  charged  by  his  Company  for  the 
carriage  of  blackberries  from  (1)  St.  Malo  to 
London,  and  (2)  from  stations  in  Devon  and 
Cornwall  to  London.  He  has  furnished  me 
with  the  following  figures:— 

(1)  Rate  (including  delivery)  for  the  transport 
of    blackberries    from    St.    Malo    to    London : 
£2  Os.  2d.  per  ton. 

(2)  Rates   (including  delivery)  from  stations 
in  Devon  and  Cornwall  to  London,  in  respect 
to   consignments   above  those    represented    by 
"  smalls  " :— 


FROM 

MILES. 

3-TON 
LOTS. 

2-TON 
LOTS. 

1-TON 
LOT. 

LOTS 
UNDER 
1  TON. 

Per  ton. 

Per  ton. 

Per  ton. 

Per  ton. 

&     s.     d. 

£    s.    d. 

£     «.      d. 

&    ».      d. 

Bere  Ferrers  (Devon)  . 

221^ 

1  10  10 

1  12  6 

1   14     2 

1  15  10 

St.  Budeaux  (     „     )  . 

225| 

1  10  10 

1  12  6 

1  14     2 

1  15  10 

Holsworthy    (     ,,     )  . 
Launceston  (Cornwall) 

216* 

222£ 

1  10  10 
1  11     8 

1  12  6 
1  13  4 

1  14     2 
1  15     0 

I  15  10 
1  16     8 

Camelford     (       „       ) 

239J 

1  13    4 

1  15  0 

1  16     8 

1  17     6 

Wadebridge  (       „       ) 

252f 

1  13     4 

1  15  0 

1  16     8 

1  18    4 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  if  the  traffic  is  sent 
from  Devon  or  Cornwall  in  any  quantity  above 
"  smalls  "  it  is  carried  at  a  more  favourable  rate 
than  from  St.  Malo ;  while  if  it  is  sent  in  large 
quantities,  such  as  three  tons,  it  gets  the  benefit 
of  from  9s.  4c/.  to  6s.  Wd.  per  ton.  The  "  exces- 


AN   IMAGINARY   GRIEVANCE  83 

sive  railway  rate  "  theory  falls,  therefore,  entirely 
to  the  ground,  and  the  real  reason  why  French 
blackberries  are  put  on  the  London  market  in- 
stead of  English  is,  evidently,  that  our  neigh- 
bours will  take  the  trouble  to  pick  them,  and 
make  the  very  simple  arrangement  necessary  for 
sending  them  in,  while  English  people  fail  to 
show  the  same  amount  of  energy  and  enterprise, 
and  content  themselves,  rather,  with  cherishing 
an  imaginary  grievance  against  the  railway  com- 
panies. 

Gooseberries  are  collected  in  the  villages 
around  St.  Malo  in  a  somewhat  similar  fashion, 
the  peasants  who  have  a  few  bushes  in  their 
gardens  disposing  of  the  fruit  to  a  local  trades- 
man, who,  when  he  has  gathered  in  a  good 
supply,  will  dispose  of  it  to  the  wholesale  dealer, 
getting  Fr.  1  50  c.  per  cwt.  on  delivery,  which  is 
at  his  own  expense. 

Then  the  growing  of  early  potatoes  in  France 
has  assumed  such  a  magnitude  that  the  trade 
therein  done  through  the  port  of  St.  Malo  alone 
represented  in  1902  a  total  of  over  £200,000.  It 
is  no  wonder  that  a  year  or  two  ago  a  St.  Malo 
merchant,  in  addressing  a  meeting  of  agricul- 
turists at  Dol,  advised  them  to  cultivate  potatoes 
on  every  available  acre.  The  export  from  St. 
Malo  to  Southampton  amounts,  in  the  height  of 


84  FRANCE 

the  season,  to  as  many  as  1,000  tons  a  day,  so 
that  complete  train -loads  of  French  potatoes 
can  be  made  up  at  Southampton  for  transit  to 
London.  At  the  same  time  there  will  be  two 
boat-loads  a  week,  representing  up  to  200  tons 
each,  going  from  St.  Malo  to  Hull,  and  one 
a  week  to  Cardiff.  All  around  St.  Malo  the 
cultivation  of  new  potatoes  as  an  early  crop  is 
followed  by  cauliflowers,  of  which  every  year 
larger  quantities  are  being  produced,  and  it  is 
found  that  the  farmers  will  readily  drive  into 
St.  Malo  with  their  produce,  although  their 
farms  may  be  twelve  or  fourteen  miles  from  that 
port.  One  further  consequence  of  all  these 
conditions  is  that  agricultural  land  in  the  district 
has  doubled  in  value. 

Of  Cherbourg  Mr.  M.  C.  Gurney  wrote  a 
few  years  ago,  when  he  was  British  Consul 
there : — 

This  district  owes  its  prosperity  to  the  soil,  to  a  wise 
selection  of  its  capabilities,  and  development  of  all  its 
resources,  no  section  of  agricultural  industry  being  con- 
sidered too  insignificant  to  receive  careful  attention.  No 
part  of  the  dairy  and  the  farmyard,  however  small  the 
profits  which  can  be  made  to  swell  the  total  income,  is 
neglected.  It  is  sad  to  acknowledge  that  the  main  source 
of  local  prosperity  is  due  to  the  inability  of  British  agri- 
culturists to  supply  the  need  of  the  millions  of  consumers 
in  our  Metropolis  and  our  large  provincial  towns,  which 


SUBSTITUTES   FOR   CEREALS  85 

afford  a  never-failing  market  to  the  produce  of  Normandy 
enterprise  and  industry  in  the  shape  of  butter,  poultry, 
eggs,  potatoes,  and  vegetables.  .  .  . 

Farmers  in  this  district  have  realized  that  Europe  can 
no  longer  be  a  wheat-growing  competitor  of  the  new 
worlds.  Protective  tariffs  have  not  procured  for  them 
remunerative  prices,  though  they  have  prevented  a  further 
fall.  .  .  .  The  advice  given  to  farmers  to  give  up  cereals  for 
permanent  pasture  is  considered  to  have  been  the  saving 
of  the  farmers  of  La  Manche,  who  one  and  all  followed  the 
advice  given.  .  .  .  The  agriculturists  of  Western  Normandy, 
having  abandoned  cereals,  now  get  a  very  fair  return  for 
their  capital  and  labour  out  .of  dairy-farming,  horse- 
breeding,  poultry-rearing,  cider-apple  orchards,  and  market 
gardening. 

The  butter  export  from  Cherbourg,  which 
rose  from  1,850  tons  in  1869  to  21,519  tons  in 
1897,  has  since  declined  to  about  16,000  tons  (in 
the  face  of  Danish  and  other  competition),  not- 
withstanding a  temporary  increase  in  1902,  and 
the  export  of  poultry,  as  well  as  eggs,  has  also 
fallen  off  during  the  last  few  years.  But,  in  the 
spirit  referred  to  by  Mr.  Gurney,  the  farmers 
of  the  district  are  again  showing  their  powers  of 
adaptability  to  circumstances  by  pushing  their 
alternative  trade  in  potatoes  and  vegetables. 
The  position  to-day  is  that  nearly  all  the  avail- 
able land  between  Cherbourg  and  Barfleur,  and 
on  to  St.  Vast,  is  being  devoted  to  potatoes  and 
cauliflowers.  In  the  district  between  Cape  La 


86 


FRANCE 


Hague  and  Granville  the  cultivation  of  parsley 
has  been  carried  on  to  such  an  extent  that  one 
grower  alone  exported  to  England  during  the 
season  in  1901  no  fewer  than  100  packets  of 
parsley  a  day,  each  packet  representing  20  Ibs. 
By  way  of  final  illustration  of  the  practical 
results  that  have  followed  the  general  change  of 
policy  referred  to  above,  I  cannot  do  better  than 
give  the  following  figures  relating  to  some  of 
the  principal  items  of  export  from  St.  Malo  to 
Great  Britain : — 


1895 

1896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

1900  |  1901 

1902 

Tons. 

Tons. 

Tons. 

Tons. 

Tons. 

Tons. 

Tons. 

Tons. 

Butter  . 

1615 

1613 

1003 

882 

831 

924 

562 

1149 

Eggs  . 

5500 

6939 

5948 

4594 

4768 

4788 

4252 

3407 

Potatoes 

15770 

18634 

15992 

22130 

42328 

22303  !  28214 

38594 

Fruit  . 

3199 

1919 

2029 

1123 

4163 

2888 

3179 

1829 

Fresh     ^ 
vegetables/ 

2039 

1932 

1214 

3243 

1661 

897 

2256 

Chestnuts 

3290 

3614 

3210 

3288 

4415 

3413 

4982 

2458 

Poultry 

79 

85 

99 

35 

29 

74 

76 

26 

Mistletoe   . 

... 

350 

432 

229 

210 

272 

275 

To  this  table  I  will  only  add  that  while,  in 
regard  to  the  actual  sale  of  such  produce,  co- 
operative effort  may  play  a  less  conspicuous 
role  in  France  than  in  other  countries  in  the 
North  of  Europe,  and  while,  also,  the  grouping 
of  lots  there  may  still  be  done  mainly  through 
the  individual  trader,  the  influence  of  agricultural 
associations  has,  nevertheless,  been  distinctly  felt 
by  the  cultivators  in  the  cheapening  of  fertilizers, 


COMBINATION   AND    PRODUCTION  87 

the  increase  of  facilities  in  regard  to  the  purchase 
or  use  of  agricultural  implements  or  machinery, 
and  in  the  bringing  of  capable  advisers  to  the 
front, — advantages  which  have  all  played  their 
part  in  lowering  the  cost,  and  swelling  the 
volume,  of  production. 


CHAPTER  VI 
BELGIUM 

IT  was  not  until  about  the  year  1890  that 
Belgium  began  to  seriously  bestir  herself 
with  the  view  of  effecting  the  improvement, 
or,  rather,  the  reconstruction,  of  her  agricultural 
position.  Yet  the  claim  is  made  for  her  that, 
relatively  to  her  size,  more  associations  have 
been  established  in  Belgium  in  the  interests  of 
agriculture  than  in  any  other  country  in  Europe  ; 
while,  as  regards  accomplished  results,  one 
authority  on  the  subject,  M.  Louis  Varlez, 
says : — 

The  movement  has  hardly  yet  been  outlined,  and 
already  the  agrarian  crisis  has  moderated — in  some  parts 
of  the  country  it  has  already  come  to  an  end.  We  are 
taking  part  in  a  real  awakening  (un  vrai  rcveil)  of  agri- 
culture. What  will  it  be  like  when  the  movement  has 
developed  its  full  proportions — when  it  shall  have  spread 
throughout  the  entire  country  ? 

There  were,  it  is  true,  agricultural  associations 
in  Belgium  prior  to  1890,  and  notably  those  that 

88 


REMARKABLE   RESULTS  89 

went  by  the  name  of  "  Cornices  Agricoles " — 
semi  -  official,  State  -  supported  bodies  which, 
originally  created  in  1848,  were  useful  in  their 
way,  especially  as  mediums  for  collecting  infor- 
mation, but  were  not  sufficiently  representative 
of  the  agriculturists  in  general,  and  did  not 
constitute  a  real  living  force  equal  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  day.  This  said  force  came 
into  existence,  rather,  with  the  creation  of  "  free  " 
or  non -official  associations,  and  the  expansion 
which  these  have  undergone,  as  shown  by  the 
"  Expose  Statistique  des  Associations  d'Interet 
Agricole,"  issued  by  the  Belgian  Minister  of 
Agriculture,  is  certainly  remarkable  enough, 
considering  the  very  short  time  that  has  elapsed 
since  they  were  started.  A  few  facts  and  figures 
from  this  report  may  be  given  in  order  to  convey 
an  idea  of  the  general  position,  before  we  con- 
sider the  particular  causes  that  have  led  to  results 
so  striking. 

Of  local  agricultural  leagues,  formed  by  agri- 
culturists "  for  the  study  and  the  defence  of 
agricultural  interests,"  there  were  in  Belgium 
at  the  end  of  1901  no  fewer  than  776,  with  a 
membership  of  42,659.  The  action  of  these 
leagues  is  in  some  cases  confined  to  a  single 
hamlet,  while  in  others  it  may  extend  over 
several  communes ;  but  nearly  all  are  affiliated 


go  BELGIUM 

to  some  federation  whose  operations  may  em- 
brace a  canton,  a  province,  or  the  entire  country. 
The  oldest  of  the  federations  is  the  Boerenbond  ; 
the  others  include  the  Federation  Agricole  du 
Hainaut,  the  Federation  Agricole  de  la  Province 
de  Liege,  the  Ligue  Agricole  Luxembourgeoise, 
etc. 

The  primary  object  of  the  local  societies  is  the 
purchase  in  common  of  agricultural  necessaries, 
this  being  effected  through  central  organizations, 
some  of  which  are  represented  by  limited  liability 
companies  formed  by  the  agriculturists  as  an 
adjunct  to  their  ordinary  associations.  Of 
purchase  societies  the  number  in  1901  was  780, 
with  a  membership  of  49,000,  and  the  purchases 
amounted  to  a  total  of  14,000,000  francs.  Some 
of  the  associations  procure  costly  agricultural 
machinery,  which  they  let  out  on  hire  to  their 
members  or  others,  the  value  of  machinery  thus 
held  in  1901  being  98,000  francs.  The  equip- 
ment of  co-operative  dairies  is  undertaken  in 
certain  instances,  and  the  federations  operating 
in  the  dairy  districts  have  organized  a  complete 
system  of  inspection  as  to  the  working  and 
management  of  the  establishments  belonging  to 
their  members. 

The  raising  of  funds  for  the  carrying  on  of 
agricultural  operations,  either  by  co-operative 


VARIED   PHASES   OF   THE   MOVEMENT        91 

associations  or  by  individuals,  has  been  facilitated 
by  the  establishment  of  rural  credit  banks  of  the 
Raiffeisen  type.  Of  these  there  were  in  Belgium 
in  1894  only  four,  all  newly  established.  On 
December  31st,  1901,  there  were  286,  connected 
with  six  central  banks,  created  by  the  different 
federations.  The  286  societies  represent  a  mem- 
bership of  13,000. 

Of  "  mutual "  societies  for  the  insurance  of 
cattle  there  were  729  in  1901,  with  67,000 
members,  the  number  of  cattle  insured  being 
198,000.  How  this  movement  is  spreading  may 
be  illustrated  by  the  case  of  Luxembourg.  In 
that  province  there  were  no  cattle  -  insurance 
societies  at  all  in  1900,  whereas  by  the  end  of  the 
following  year  there  were  thirty-three.  Then 
during  1901  there  were  established  in  Belgium 
thirty-seven  societies  for  the  insurance  of  horses, 
and  seven  for  the  insurance  of  goats,  The 
operations  of  all  these  live  -  stock  insurance 
societies  are  safe-guarded  by  federations  for  re- 
insurance. 

To  such  an  extent  has  the  principle  of  "  group- 
ing" fire  insurance  policies — with  the  view  of 
getting  a  reduction  in  the  premiums — been 
carried,  that  by  the  end  of  1901  the  Boeren- 
borid  federation  of  agricultural  associations  had 
"  grouped  "  over  8,000,  and  other  central  bodies 


92  BELGIUM 

controlled  159,  1,200,  642,  and  112  respectively. 
In  the  same  way  the  federations  group  policies 
for  insurance  against  accidents. 

Among  the  associations  formed  to  promote 
special  interests  may  be  mentioned  the  245  Bee 
Societies,  forming  eight  federations,  and  com- 
prising 10,000  members.  These  societies  organ- 
ize exhibitions,  open  special  markets  for  the  sale 
of  honey,  and  hold  from  300  to  400  conferences 
in  the  year  to  further  the  interests  of  apiculture. 
The  Horticultural  Societies  number  133,  with  a 
membership  of  19,000;  and  the  Bird  Societies 
(which  especially  devote  themselves  to  the  rear- 
ing of  pigeons  for  food)  number  54,  with  a 
membership  of  4,000  ;  while  of  associations  for 
improving  the  breed  of  cattle  there  are  312,  with 
a  membership  of  11,000. 

Of  co-operative  dairies  there  were  69  in 
1895,  109  in  1896,  167  in  1897,  237  in  1898,  356 
in  1900,  and  427  in  1901.  The  membership  in 
1901  was  47,447 — mostly  very  small  farmers 
indeed,  judging  from  the  fact  that  the  average 
number  of  cattle  possessed  per  member  is  only 
27.  The  sales  effected  in  1901  by  these  co- 
operative dairies  amounted  to  over  22,500,000 
francs. 

In  commencing  an  inquiry  as  to  the  circum- 
stances under  which  all  these  results  have  been 


THE   CLERGY   AND   CO-OPERATION  93 

secured,  one  is  speedily  brought  face  to  face 
with  conditions  peculiar  to  Belgium,  and  hardly 
to  be  compared  with  those  of  any  other  country. 
What  one  finds  is  that  this  extensive  develop- 
ment of  agricultural  institutions  in  Belgium  is 
the  result,  not  so  much  of  a  deliberate  attempt 
to  meet  changing  economic  conditions,  as  of  a 
most  practical  effort  on  the  part  of  the  clergy, 
supported  by  the  present  "Clerical"  Govern- 
ment, to  prevent  the  spread  of  Socialism  in  the 
rural  districts,  and  to  increase  the  hold  alike  of 
the  Church  and  of  the  Clerical  Party  on  the  agri- 
culturists of  the  country  by  taking  effective 
measures  to  improve  their  material  and  social 
position.  There  is,  in  fact,  scarcely  one  of  the 
"  free  "  agricultural  associations  indicated  by  the 
statistics  given  above  that  has  not  been  more  or 
less  inspired,  if  not  actually  brought  into  exist- 
ence (and  in  many  cases  even  still  controlled), 
by  some  parish  priest  or  other.  The  reasons  for 
this  distinctly  curious  position  of  affairs  are 
deserving  of  some  consideration. 

Not  only  is  Belgium  a  country  where  political 
partisanship  is  carried  to  an  extent  unknown 
in  Great  Britain,  but  the  ramifications  of  the 
Socialist  propaganda,  in  particular,  have  under- 
gone great  extension  there  of  late  years.  So 
long  as  that  propaganda  was  confined  to  the 


94  BELGIUM 

toilers  in  the  large  cities,  the  situation  was  one 
that  had  to  be  accepted  with  the  best  possible 
grace.  But  there  came  a  time  when  a  threat- 
ened spread  of  Socialist  doctrines  to  the  rural 
districts  gave  rise  to  serious  alarm.  Various 
causes  were  operating  to  bring  about  the  ap- 
parently impending  result.  The  agitation  in 
favour  of  universal  suffrage,  the  rapid  spread  of 
education  in  the  agricultural  districts,  and  the 
wider  circulation  there  of  cheap  political  news- 
papers had  done  much  to  expand  the  intellectual 
horizon  of  dwellers  in  those  districts ;  but  a  much 
more  potent  influence  in  the  propagation  of 
Socialist  ideas  in  Belgium  has  been  found  in  the 
fact  that  so  many  dwellers  in  the  rural  districts 
who  are  employed  in  the  large  industrial  centres 
are  brought  into  daily  contact,  either  in  the 
train  or  at  their  work,  with  individuals  of  Social- 
ist tendencies  whose  views  they  eventually 
adopt,  more  or  less,  and  take  back  with  them  to 
the  villages,  there  to  become  each  a  propagandist 
on  his  own  account.  Then  every  year  troops  of 
agricultural  labourers  proceed  from  Belgium  to 
France  to  take  part  in  the  harvest,  and  they,  too, 
bring  back  advanced  ideas  with  them ;  while,  in 
addition  to  all  this,  the  Socialist  party  in  Belgium 
has  of  late  years  deliberately  sought  to  capture 
the  rural  districts  by  every  means  in  its  power. 


A   CAMPAIGN   AGAINST   SOCIALISM  95 

So  it  was  thought  by  all  good  Catholics  in 
general,  and  by  the  clergy  in  particular,  that  the 
time  for  action  had  come.  As  far  back  as  1876 
the  question  was  raised  of  giving  instruction  in 
agricultural  subjects  to  young  men  under  train- 
ing in  the  Seminaries  for  the  priesthood,  to  fit 
them  for  taking  pail  in  agricultural  movements 
in  the  parishes,  and  this  course  was  adopted  as 
soon  as  it  became  the  fixed  policy  of  the  Church 
to  check  the  spread  of  Socialism  in  the  rural 
districts.  Not  only  was  such  instruction  given 
(with  the  help  of  State  subsidies),  but  the 
bishops  were  most  earnest  in  their  efforts  to 
induce  the  parish  priests  to  promote  the  various 
forms  of  agricultural  combination  with  all  the 
zeal  in  their  power.  In  this  way  almost  every 
cure  became  the  centre  of  a  local  movement  for 
the  starting  of  agricultural  associations,  and  how 
well  qualified  they  became  so  to  act  is  shown  by 
a  story  told  by  M.  Victor  LecofFre  in  his  book, 
Les  Associations  Agricoles  en  Belgique.  M. 
LecofFre  went  one  day  to  a  co-operative  dairy 
with  a  priest  who  was  "  diocesan  inspector  of 
agricultural  undertakings,"  and  found  that 
operations  had  been  stopped  for  two  hours 
because  of  a  breakdown  in  the  engine  which 
the  engineer  could  not  remedy.  The  priest- 
inspector  examined  the  engine,  and  then  called 


96  BELGIUM 

for  some  tools,  turned  up  his  cassock,  and  him- 
self set  to  work  on  the  engine.  In  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  it  was  in  full  working  order  again. 
"  Such  men,"  says  M.  Lecoffre,  "  have  their 
influence  ;  beyond  their  priestly  dignity  their 
technical  knowledge  inspires  respect  and  con- 
fidence." 

The  movement  which  has  thus  assumed  such 
widespread  proportions  and  so  many  different 
forms  had  its  actual  rise  mostly  in  the  starting 
by  isolated  individuals  of  small  associations  for 
the  combined  purchase  of  agricultural  neces- 
saries, the  scope  of  action  being  subsequently 
widened  alike  by  the  taking  up  of  other  objects 
and  by  means  of  groups  and  federations.  A 
single  illustration  must  suffice. 

A  Flemish  farmer  at  Goor  went  one  day  to 
the  cure  of  the  parish,  M.  1'Abbe  Mellaerts,  and 
spoke  to  him  about  the  poor  quality  of  his 
wheat  crop.  The  cure  had  studied  botany  and 
kindred  subjects  at  his  Seminary,  he  had  es- 
pecially followed  up  the  subject  of  chemical 
manures,  and  he  had  made  experiments  on  his 
own  account  in  the  garden  of  his  house.  So  he 
asked  the  farmer,  "  If  I  tell  you  of  a  remedy, 
will  you  use  it ? "  "If  it  is  not  too  dear,"  was 
the  reply.  When  the  farmer  called  again  the 
abbe*  gave  him  a  sack  containing  twenty-five 


SMALL   BEGINNINGS  97 

kilogrammes  of  chemical  manure.  The  farmer 
was  reluctant  to  take  it.  He  had  no  confidence 
in  such  manure  as  that  because  it  did  not  smell 
strong  enough.  But  he  was  induced  to  try  it 
as  an  experiment,  and  he  used  it  to  grow  some 
potatoes,  with  such  excellent  results  that  he 
went  to  the  cure  for  more.  Then  several  of  his 
neighbours  wanted  supplies  as  well.  Meanwhile 
the  cure'  had  been  reading  of  what  the  peasants 
along  the  Rhine  had  done  in  the  way  of  form- 
ing combinations  for  the  joint  purchase  of 
agricultural  necessaries,  and  he  called  a  con- 
ference of  members  of  his  flock  to  consider  the 
adoption  of  a  like  scheme  for  Goor.  His  parish- 
ioners had  no  great  faith  in  the  proposal,  but 
seven  of  them  put  their  names  down  as  members 
of  a  "  Peasants'  Guild  "  —just  to  please  him. 
They  soon  found,  however,  that  they  could  get 
their  supplies  cheaper  and  of  a  better  quality 
through  the  Guild  than  they  could  individually, 
and  thereupon  more  members  joined.  Within 
a  year  the  Guild  consisted  of  100  farmers. 

Considerations  of  health  then  compelled  M. 
Mellaerts  to  remove  to  Louvain,  where  he 
became  an  active  writer  on  agricultural  ques- 
tions, and  an  especially  earnest  advocate  of 
agricultural  combination.  A  conference  of  agri- 
culturists at  Louvain,  organized  by  M.  Mellaerts 


98  BELGIUM 

and  others,  followed  in  July,  1890,  when  it 
was  decided  that  there  ought  to  be  in  every 
commune  in  the  province  an  agricultural  asso- 
ciation similar  to  the  one  at  Goor,  and  that, 
when  formed,  all  of  them  should  be  connected 
with  one  central  body.  By  the  following  year 
there  were  89  local  associations  of  different 
kinds  ready  for  incorporation  into  an  organiza- 
tion to  which  the  name  of  "  Boerenbond  "  was 
given.  By  1893  the  number  of  affiliated  asso- 
ciations in  this  federation  was  130.  In  1897 
the  total  increased  to  380,  and  in  1900  to  450, 
representing  upwards  of  26,000  members,  and 
covering  the  provinces  of  Antwerp,  Brabant, 
and  Limbourg.  The  federation  publishes  a 
monthly  agricultural  review,  holds  innumerable 
conferences  and  periodical  meetings,  conducts 
experimental  fields,  has  a  central  office  from 
which  a  vast  amount  of  gratuitous  practical 
advice  is  given,  exercises  a  useful  influence  in 
regard  to  legislation  affecting  agriculture,  and 
carries  on  so  big  a  business  in  grouping  the 
orders  of  the  local  associations  that  it  has 
organized  a  separate  section  for  each  commodity, 
set  up  a  mill  of  its  own  for  the  preparation  of 
feeding-stuffs,  and  established  a  wholesale  ware- 
house of  substantial  proportions  in  the  city  of 
Antwerp — all  this  being  done  in  little  more 


ESSENTIAL   PRINCIPLES  99 

than  a  dozen  years.  To  the  original  founder 
of  this  great  federation  is  further  due  the  in- 
troduction and  popularization  in  Belgium  of 
Raiffeisen  agricultural  credit  banks,  of  which 
there  are  close  on  200,  with  about  10,000  mem- 
bers, in  direct  connection  with  the  Boerenbond 
alone. 

Other  of  the  leading  federations,  conducted 
on  similar  lines,  were  started  in  an  equally 
unpretending  fashion  by  parish  priests,  sup- 
ported by  the  more  influential  residents  in 
particular  districts,  two  of  the  essential  prin- 
ciples of  the  whole  movement  being  thus 
succinctly  laid  down  in  a  report  presented  by 
M.  1'Abbe  Berger  at  a  conference  held  at  Nivelles 
in  1899  :- 

In  the  founding  of  agricultural  associations  it  is 
prudent  to  begin  with  parochial  societies  which  will 
federate  with  one  another  when  there  is  a  certain  number 
of  them. 

It  is  wise  to  accord  complete  self-government  to  local 
associations,  which  should  find  in  the  central  organization 
only  a  guide  and  counsellor,  and  not  a  tyrannical  power 
which  will  cripple  them,  and  deprive  them  of  all  origi- 
nality and  initiative. 

As  already  indicated,  the  movement  received 
the  earnest  support  and  encouragement  of  the 
Belgian  Government,  which  had,  in  fact,  already 
laid  some  of  the  foundations.  Coming  into 


ioo  BELGIUM 

power  in  1884,  the  Clerical  Party  at  once 
created  a  Department  of  Agriculture,  and  began 
to  spread  a  very  practical  and  thoroughgoing 
system  of  agricultural  education.  One  of  the 
most  interesting  phases  of  this  system  was  in 
regard  to  dairy  instruction.  The  position  of  the 
diary  industry  in  Belgium  was  then  being 
seriously  threatened  by  Denmark,  and  it  was 
found  that  not  only  were  the  Belgians  meeting 
with  very  severe  competition  on  their  foreign 
markets,  but  their  home  markets  also  were  in 
danger  of  invasion.  Up  to  that  time  Belgian 
butter  had  been  almost  exclusively  made  by 
individual  farmers.  To  encourage  a  resort  to 
the  best,  and  especially  to  co-operative,  methods, 
the  Government  organized  (in  1890)  travelling 
dairy  schools,  which  would  stay  three  months  in 
each  place  visited,  and  give  practical  instruction 
to  farmers'  daughters.  Before  long  every  pro- 
vince in  Belgium  had  a  travelling  dairy  school 
of  this  description.  Steps  were  also  taken 
by  the  State  to  secure  the  training  of  dairy 
managers,  so  that  by  the  time  the  farmers 
were  ready  to  start  their  co-operative  dairies 
there  was  a  good  supply  of  efficient  labour 
available. 

The  Government  also  did  much,  with  the  help 
of  its   "  Corps  des  Agronomes,"  to  popularize 


STATE   AID— INDIVIDUAL   EFFORT          101 

agricultural  science  and  agricultural  combina- 
tion ;  but  the  fact  remains,  all  the  same,  that  in 
the  results  actually  brought  about  the  State 
played  a  secondary  part,  the  credit  for  what  was 
done  being  chiefly  due  to  individual  workers. 
The  general  position  will,  perhaps,  be  better 
understood  from  the  following  most  instructive 
account  of  developments  in  Luxemburg,  as  re- 
lated by  M.  1'Abbe  Couturiaux  at  a  conference 
of  priests  held  at  Seraing  in  September,  1900  : — 

Vast  expanses  of  land  in  the  Ardennes  region  remained 
uncultivated,  producing  nothing  but  bracken,  broom,  and 
heath.  The  Government,  by  means  of  numerous  con- 
ferences, had  sought  to  spread  the  use  of  chemical 
manures ;  but  the  cultivators  were  mistrustful,  and  those 
who  attempted  to  use  such  manures  found  that  they  paid 
very  dear  to  small  dealers  for  phosphates  and  nitrates 
which  were  more  or  less  falsified,  and  gave  them  an  in- 
adequate return  for  their  outlay. 

In  1892  there  were  established  at  Ortho,  in  the  north 
of  the  province  and  in  the  German  section  of  Luxem- 
burg, the  first  leagues,  or  syndicates,  of  peasants  for  the 
purchase  in  common  of  chemical  manures  and  concentrated 
feeding -stuffs  for  cattle.  Experience  soon  showed  the 
value  of  such  institutions.  The  peasants  found  they 
could  buy,  at  lower  prices,  products  of  a  superior  quality, 
guaranteed  by  trustworthy  analyses  against  fraud.  The 
soil  began  to  produce  abundant  harvests ;  the  cattle, 
better  nourished,  improved  in  quality  and  gave  a  richer 
milk.  Confidence  in  the  future  revived  many  hitherto- 
discouraged  cultivators- 


102  BELGIUM 

The  people  showed  themselves  grateful  to  their 
pastors  for  having  made  them  understand  the  value  and 
the  absolute  necessity  for  combination,  and  in  many 
parishes  there  were  spontaneous  demands  made  to  the 
priests  that  they  should  head  the  movement,  and  occupy 
themselves  with  both  the  creation  and  the  direction  of 
agricultural  associations. 

So  from  such  very  small  beginnings  as  these 
there  has  sprung  a  great  national  movement, 
the  main  results  of  which  may  be  thus  sum- 
marized : — 

The  original  idea  of  checking  the  spread  of 
Socialism  to  the  purely  agricultural  classes  in 
Belgium  has  been  fully  realized,  for  though  the 
Socialists  have  made  vigorous  efforts  to  establish 
agricultural  associations  of  their  own  in  the 
country  districts,  they  have  had  very  little 
success,  and  the  Socialist  propaganda  in  general 
is  making  scarcely  any  headway  among  the 
cultivators  of  the  soil. 

The  State  has  further  benefited  by  an  expan- 
sion of  the  national  resources,  by  the  greater 
prosperity  of  the  agricultural  population,  and 
by  the  creation  of  more  solid  guarantees  for  the 
maintenance  of  domestic  peace. 

The  Church  has  increased  her  hold  upon  the 
peasantry  by  showing  that  she  recognizes,  and 
will  gladly  help  them  to  overcome,  the  practical 
difficulties  of  their  daily  life ;  while  individually 


RESULTS   OF   THE   MOVEMENT  103 

the  parish  priests  have  won  golden  opinions  by 
the  conspicuous  proofs  they  have  given  of  both 
a  willingness  and  a  capacity  to  become  leaders 
of  men  in  material  concerns  as  well  as  in 
spiritual. 

The  peasantry  have  gained  materially,  because 
they  can  carry  on  their  operations  far  more 
advantageously  than  before  (as  shown  by  a 
calculation  made  in  a  Brussels  Liberal  journal, 
La  Chronique,  by  M.  Cauderlier,  that  since  the 
ingenious  network  of  agricultural  associations 
here  described  was  spread  over  the  country  the 
average  return  from  a  farm  of  10  hectares — 
24f  acres — in  Belgium  has  increased  by  £100  a 
year) ;  they  have  gained  morally  because  they 
have  already  to  a  great  extent  recovered  from 
their  agricultural  "  depression  "  ;  and  they  have 
gained  socially,  because  with  all  the  increased 
power  and  influence  he  derives  from  his  mani- 
fold associations,  economic  and  beneficent,  the 
Belgian  agriculturist  has  become  a  very  different 
person  from  what  he  was  in  bygone  days. 

And,  lastly,  a  further  effect  of  all  this  foresight 
and  energy,  and  especially  of  all  this  very 
effective  combination,  on  the  part  of  the  Belgian 
agriculturists,  has  been  to  greatly  increase,  at  a 
proportionately  lower  cost,  the  fertility  and  the 
total  production  of  their  fields  and  market 


104  BELGIUM 

gardens,  thus  enabling  them  to  send  to  England 
still  bigger  loads  of  those  foreign  agricultural 
supplies  which  the  British  farmer,  clinging  to  his 
own  old-fashioned  methods  and  ideas,  is  apt  to 
regard  in  the  light  of  a  personal  injustice. 


CHAPTER   VII 
ITALY 

THE  conditions  which  have  brought  about 
the  great  revival  now  taking  place  in 
Italian  agriculture — a  revival  that  has  already 
produced  remarkable  results,  and  promises  still 
more  important  developments  in  the  next 
generation — are  not  in  themselves  all  of  native 
growth.  What  has  been  well  described  as  the 
cellule  mere  of  the  whole  movement,  the 
organization,  namely,  of  an  effective  system  of 
agricultural  credit,  was  directly  inspired  by 
Germany.  The  formation  of  purchase  associa- 
tions was  imitated  from  the  example  set  by 
France.  The  establishment  of  co-operative 
dairies  on  present  lines  was  the  outcome,  more 
or  less,  of  what  had  been  done  by  Denmark. 
The  activity  of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  in 
Italy  in  promoting  the  material  interests  of 
cultivators  of  the  soil  reminds  one  of  what  is 
being  done  in  this  direction  in  Belgium. 

But  although  Italy  may  have  borrowed  ideas 
105 


io6  ITALY 

from  elsewhere,  and  although  in  certain  respects 
she  may  not  yet  have  carried  those  ideas  so  far 
as  other  countries  have  done,  her  national  genius 
has  shown  itself  in  the  skilful,  if  not  thoroughly 
statesmanlike,  manner  in  which  the  pioneers  of 
the  revival  have  woven  into  one  complete 
system  what  are  elsewhere  still  mostly  a  series 
of  isolated  efforts  and  sectional  aspirations.  In 
this  way  there  has  been  secured  in  Italy  com- 
plete unity  of  conception  in  a  well-conceived, 
though  many-sided,  general  scheme  of  organiza- 
tion which,  complex  though  it  be,  is  essentially 
harmonious  in  its  scope  and  operation.  Neither 
in  Germany  nor  in  France,  neither  in  Denmark 
nor  in  Belgium,  is  there  to  be  found  that  "  funda- 
mental idea  "  which  in  Italy  has  brought  about 
the  co-ordination  of  all  parties  and  all  interests 
for  the  achievement  in  various,  but  strictly 
interdependent,  ways  of  a  common  purpose— 
the  progress,  that  is  to  say,  not  alone  of  agricul- 
ture or  of  industry,  of  the  masses  or  the  classes, 
but  of  the  national  well-being  as  a  whole. 

The  first  of  the  main  principles  upon  which 
the  so-called  "Italian  system"  thus  brought 
about  has  proceeded  is  that  thrift  should  receive 
every  possible  encouragement  among  the  people, 
not  only  because  it  is  a  virtue  and  a  material 
advantage  in  itself,  but  also  because  the  savings 


ITALIAN   VIEWS   ON   THRIFT  107 

resulting  from  production  represent  financial  re- 
sources which  ought  to  be  re-invested  in  pro- 
duction, and  especially  in  those  forms  thereof 
that  are  included  in  agricultural  operations. 
Provided  that  adequate  guarantees  are  given 
for  its  security,  the  surplus  money  of  industrial 
workers — who  are  often  at  a  loss  to  know  how 
to  invest  it  profitably — could  not,  it  is  claimed, 
be  put  to  better  advantage  than  in  the  formation 
of  funds  on  which  cultivators  of  the  soil,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  towns  where  the  money 
has  been  earned,  could  draw  for  the  purpose  of 
facilitating  operations  on  land  that  requires 
capital  for  its  development ;  while  those  opera- 
tions would,  in  turn,  improve  the  conditions  of 
the  industrials  by  ensuring  them  (apart  from  the 
mere  payment  of  interest)  more  employment 
through  the  greater  demand  for  agricultural 
implements,  etc. 

From  this  point  of  view  the  representatives  of 
the  "  Italian  system  "  are  entirely  opposed  to  the 
French  idea  of  thrift,  under  which  the  toiler  who 
saves  a  few  francs  as  the  result  of  his  operations 
will  invest  them  in  Government  stock,  getting  a 
modest  return  thereon,  but  sending  the  money 
out  of  the  district  in  which  it  has  been  earned, 
and  encouraging,  it  may  be,  his  Government  to 
spend  money  more  freely  because  of  the  evidence 


io8  ITALY 

that  seems  to  be  afforded  to  them  of  a  pre- 
sumptive national  wealth.  Still  more  averse  is 
the  "  Italian  system  "  to  the  sending  of  money 
out  of  the  country  for  investment  in  foreign 
securities  or  speculations.  Even  the  smallest  of 
savings  should,  it  is  argued,  in  a  country  like 
Italy,  whose  available  capital  can  be  derived 
from  savings  only,  be  paid  into  banks  which  will 
represent  the  natural  intermediary  between  town 
and  country,  and  respond  to  the  needs  of  agricul- 
ture in  irrigating  the  rural  districts  with  channels 
of  financial  credit  which  will  facilitate  the  opera- 
tions of  even  the  most  modest  of  cultivators. 
All  this,  it  has  been  proved  to  demonstration, 
can  be  done  without  danger  to  thrift,  and  the 
thrift  itself  is,  as  it  were,  "  twice  bless'd." 

In  the  various  developments  to  which  the 
application  of  this  principle  has  given  rise  is  to 
be  found  the  open  secret  of  the  revival  of  Italian 
agriculture.  The  peasants  of  Italy  were,  per- 
haps, even  worse  fitted  than  those  of  most  of 
the  other  countries  of  Western  Europe  to  meet 
the  crisis  that  arose  when  the  markets  to  which 
they  had  sent  their  products  began  to  be  flooded 
with  supplies  from  the  virgin  soils  of  the  New 
World.  Italy  had  then  not  long  attained  her 
national  unity,  and  with  it  she  had  inherited 
a  burden  of  public  debts  that,  poor  as  she  was, 


USURY   AND   SLAVERY  109 

crippled  her  powers  of  action,  and  was  steadily 
increased  under  the  heavy  expenditure  necessi- 
tated by  the  altered  circumstances  of  her  politi- 
cal position.  This  burden  fell  mainly  on  the 
cultivators  of  the  soil,  and  of  these  a  large 
proportion  were  owners  or  occupiers  of  "  farms  " 
of  infinitesimal  proportions  (there  were  certain 
districts  in  which  25  per  cent,  of  the  peasants 
had  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  acre  each),  and 
were,  besides,  victims  of  a  condition  of  usury 
that  was  little  better  than  slavery.  Money- 
lenders flourished  throughout  the  land,  and 
especially  in  the  northern  provinces,  by  advanc- 
ing loans  to  the  helpless  peasantry  at  the  cruellest 
rates  of  interest,  the  only  alternative  being  either 
the  securing  of  fresh  stock  or  other  necessaries 
under  a  "  lease  "  system,  the  peasant  working  off 
by  manual  labour  the  excessive  prices  he  was 
charged  for  what  he  bought ;  or  the  seeking 
from  the  aristocracy  of  pecuniary  favours  which 
robbed  the  peasants  of  all  sense  of  independence. 
In  these  circumstances  it  was  not  surprising 
that  hundreds  of  the  peasants  were  sold  up  for 
non-payment  of  debts,  or  of  rates  and  taxes, 
which  often  did  not  exceed  five  or  six  shillings 
in  amount ;  that  more  and  more  land  was  going 
out  of  cultivation ;  that  the  ranks  of  the  unem- 
ployed in  the  towns  were  being  swollen  by 


no  ITALY 

constant  accessions  from  the  rural  districts  ;  that 
the  emigration  of  Italians  who  despaired  of  their 
country  went  on  at  a  greater  rate  than  ever ; 
and  that  Italy  seemed  to  be  ill-equipped,  indeed, 
to  meet  the  coming  economic  struggle  for  the 
markets  of  the  world. 

The  conclusion  arrived  at  by  some  of  the  most 
far-seeing  of  Italians  was  that  to  compete  with 
the  aforesaid  virgin  soils  of  new  countries  the 
peasants  of  Italy  must  resort  to  improved 
methods  of  culture,  and  must  especially  make 
use  alike  of  the  fertilizers  that  agricultural 
chemistry  was  offering  to  the  world,  and  of  the 
improved  forms  of  agricultural  machinery.  But 
to  do  this  meant  the  expenditure  of  money,  and 
the  problem  that  arose  was — How  can  the  im- 
poverished peasantry  obtain  the  necessary  capi- 
tal ?  The  solution  of  this  problem  was  found  in 
the  argument  already  stated — that  the  earnings 
of  the  people  in  the  towns  should  be  made  avail- 
able for  the  use  of  the  agriculturists  in  the 
country. 

Savings  banks  had  already  been  in  operation 
in  Italy  since  the  year  1822,  and  it  had  from  the 
first  been  one  of  the  principles  of  these  banks 
that  the  deposits  should  be  so  employed  as  not 
only  to  secure  a  benefit  for  the  members,  but 
also  to  promote  the  general  economic  conditions 


PEOPLE'S   BANKS  in 

in  regard  both  to  industry  and  to  agriculture. 
This  latter  principle  was  especially  enforced  at 
a  national  congress  of  savings  banks  held  at 
Florence  in  1886,  following  on  which  fresh 
legislation  was  adopted  in  1888,  reorganizing 
the  system  on  which  the  savings  banks  had  been 
established,  and  granting  them  wider  powers  in 
the  way  both  of  assisting  agricultural  associations, 
by  giving  them  credit,  and  of  making  grants  for 
beneficent  purposes  or  works  of  public  utility. 

Meanwhile  a  scheme  for  the  formation  in 
Italy  of  People's  Banks  on  the  Schulze-Delitzsch 
model  had  been  actively  propagated  by  Signor 
Luigi  Luzzatti,  and  a  start  was  made  in  1864 
with  a  bank  of  this  description  at  Montelupo 
Florentine,  others  following  at  Zodi,  Cremona, 
Milan,  and  elsewhere.  But  the  People's  Banks 
thus  set  up  in  Italy  differed  from  those  in 
Germany  in  so  far  as  related  to  the  principle 
of  the  unlimited  liability  of  the  members,  it 
being  feared  that  this  principle,  which  answered 
well  in  Germany,  would  not  be  acceptable  in 
Italy.  In  1876  an  Association  of  People's  Banks 
was  formed,  and  in  the  following  year  there  was 
a  first  congress  at  Milan;  but  the  greatest  degree 
of  progress  in  the  general  scheme  for  bringing 
credit  within  the  reach  of  the  agricultural  dis- 
tricts was  not  made  until  1883,  when  there  was 


H2  ITALY 

set  up  by  Signer  Wallemborg,  at  Loreggia,  near 
Padua,  the  first  of  those  Village  Banks  which 
have  since  so  powerfully  affected  the  general 
situation. 

Experience  had  shown  that  the  ordinary  banks 
— including  the  People's  Banks — were  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  peasant  or  the  humble  toiler 
who  had  no  security  but  his  honesty  and  his 
labour  to  offer  in  return  for  a  small  loan  for 
the  purchase  of  a  calf  or  some  implements, 
which  might  be  of  inestimable  advantage  to 
him  ;  while  it  was  essentially  part  of  the  Italian 
system  that  financial  credit  should  be  at  the 
disposal  of  all  deserving  persons,  whatever  their 
worldly  position.  The  Village  Banks,  therefore, 
aimed  at  reaching  agriculturists  whom  the 
People's  Banks  had  been  unable  to  touch;  but 
between  the  two  there  was  perfect  harmony, 
the  one  being,  in  fact,  regarded  as  a  natural 
complement  of  the  other. 

The  Village  Banks  thus  established  have  a 
twofold  character.  Those  known  as  "Agrarian 
Banks"  are  country  branches  (in  effect)  of  either 
a  People's  Bank  or  a  Savings  Bank,  or,  alterna- 
tively, are  affiliated  to  some  central  organization 
to  which  the  deposits  they  receive  must  be 
forwarded ;  whereas  the  "  Rural  Banks  "  have 
complete  self-government,  and  can  themselves 


THE   DIFFUSION   OF   CREDIT  113 

utilize  deposits  for  the  purpose  of  making  ad- 
vances. In  either  case  the  Village  Banks  can 
draw  on  the  People's  Banks  or  on  the  Savings 
Banks  for  the  funds  they  may  require  to  lend 
out  to  their  members.  The  fear  that  was  enter- 
tained in  the  establishment  of  the  People's  Banks 
that  the  principle  of  unlimited  liability  of  mem- 
bers would  be  impracticable  in  Italy  was  dis- 
missed on  the  formation  of  the  Village  Banks, 
which  are  mostly  based  on  the  Raiffeisen  principle, 
the  members  of  each  bank  being  jointly  and 
severally  responsible  for  any  default  on  the  part 
of  a  borrower.  The  effect  of  this  arrangement 
is  that  the  Savings  Bank  or  the  People's  Bank 
which  lends  money  to  the  Village  Bank  has 
good  security,  and  the  members  of  the  Village 
Bank,  aware  of  the  risk  they  run,  are  careful 
to  admit  as  fellow-members,  and  especially  to 
make  advances  to,  only  such  individuals  as  are 
known  to  be  honest  and  industrious.  A  loan 
would  not  be  made  outside  a  village,  where,  of 
course,  each  resident  would  be  known  to  his 
neighbours.  In  this  way  it  was  found  possible 
to  grant  loans  to  men  who,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  ordinary  bank,  had  absolutely  no 
"  security "  to  offer.  Moral  worth,  on  which 
nothing  could  have  been  raised  at  a  People's 
Bank,  was  quite  sufficient  at  a  Village  Bank, 


ii4  ITALY 

and  the  losses  sustained  have,  in  point  of  fact, 
been  altogether  insignificant.  The  loans  granted 
by  the  Village  Banks  are  mostly  for  the  pur- 
chase of  live  stock  or  tools,  or  for  the  construc- 
tion or  repair  of  buildings,  and  they  will  range 
in  amount  from  about  £3  to  £8,  advanced  for 
periods  up  to  two  or  three  years. 

Thus  far,  then,  the  Italian  system,  collecting 
the  savings  of  even  the  humblest  of  workers  in 
the  towns  (deposits  by  labourers,  domestic  ser- 
vants, school  children,  and  residents  in  charitable 
institutions  are  encouraged  by  the  payment 
of  a  higher  rate  of  interest)  had  brought  agri- 
cultural credit  within  the  reach  of  the  humblest 
of  toilers  in  the  country,  and  had  effectually 
checked  the  usury  that  formerly  did  so  much 
to  the  prejudice  of  both  land  and  people.  But 
there  were  two  further  steps  necessary  to  make 
the  system  complete. 

In  the  first  place  the  agriculturists  who  could 
now  secure  the  capital  they  wanted  must  be 
provided  with  an  organization  which  would 
enable  them  to  purchase  good  qualities  at  a 
low  price.  This  was  done  by  the  formation  of 
agricultural  syndicates  on  the  model  of  those 
already  so  well  established  in  France.  The  first 
of  these  had  made  its  appearance  in  Italy  in 
1887  ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  network  of  bank- 


THE   TRAVELLING   PROFESSOR  115 

ing  institutions  here  described  had  begun  to 
spread  through  Northern  Italy  that  the  forma- 
tion of  agricultural  associations  for  the  buying  of 
fertilizers,  machinery,  feeding-stuffs,  etc.,  made 
any  really  great  progress.  Even  as  it  is,  the 
agricultural  syndicates  in  Italy  have  not  gone 
much  beyond  the  original  idea  of  collective 
purchase,  and  do  not  attempt  to  meet  any- 
thing like  so  great  a  variety  of  purposes  as  in 
France. 

But  Italy  has  gone  far  beyond  France  in 
taking  the  second  of  the  two  steps  which,  as  I 
have  said,  were  required  to  complete  the  Italian 
system.  The  peasants  had  now  both  the  means 
of  raising  money  easily,  and  the  facilities  for 
laying  it  out  to  the  best  advantage ;  but  they 
were  still  in  need  of  such  instruction  in  agricul- 
tural questions  as  would  tell  them  what  to 
purchase,  and  how  to  carry  on  their  operations 
with  the  greatest  chance  of  success.  In  France 
and  other  countries  there  are,  it  is  true,  State 
functionaries  whose  duty  it  is  to  give  expert 
advice  to  agriculturists  requiring  it ;  but  these 
officials  are  tied  more  or  less  by  official  routine, 
and  it  was  left  for  the  Savings  Bank  of  Parma — 
which  had  already  established  Village  Banks 
throughout  the  province — to  take  the  initiative, 
in  1893,  in  the  appointment  of  a  travelling  pro- 


n6  ITALY 

fessor  of  agriculture,  whose  function  it  was  to 
watch  over  the  progress  of  agriculture  in  the 
district,  and  especially  to  see  that  the  persons 
borrowing  money  from  the  local  institutions  to 
which  the  bank  was  making  advances  got  the 
best  and  most  practical  advice  in  the  laying  out 
of  their  money. 

To  accomplish  these  purposes  the  professor 
holds  numerous  conferences  at  which  he  delivers 
addresses  on  a  wide  variety  of  agricultural 
subjects,  including  the  adoption  of  improved 
methods,  the  employment  of  fertilizers,  and  the 
advantages  of  organization ;  he  gives  personal 
consultations ;  he  carries  on  experimental  or 
demonstration  fields,  and  even  visits  farms  and 
gives  advice  there  in  return  for  a  very  moderate 
fee  ;  he  holds  gatherings  of  agricultural  labourers 
in  the  winter  evenings  ;  he  edits  a  monthly  journal 
which  is  a  valuable  auxiliary  to  the  conferences 
and  public  addresses ;  and  he  encourages  measures 
for  the  improvement  of  stock,  the  organization  of 
co-operative  dairies,  the  bettering  of  pastures  by 
the  use  of  chemical  manures,  the  taking  of  pre- 
cautions against  phylloxera,  and  so  on. 

Then,  too,  he  is  the  director  of  the  local 
agricultural  syndicate,  so  that  when  a  would-be 
borrower  seeks  an  advance  from  the  Village 
Bank  the  professor  not  only  advises  the  members 


PERFECTING  THE   SYSTEM  117 

thereon,  from  an  agricultural  standpoint  (loans 
being  granted  only  for  agricultural  purposes,  and 
not  for  personal  use),  but  he  arranges  for  the 
goods  in  question  to  be  delivered  through  the 
syndicate  to  the  borrower,  who,  himself,  in  no 
case  handles  the  actual  money  nominally  lent 
to  him. 

So  the  guarantee  is  complete.  The  members 
of  the  Village  Bank  themselves  know  whether 
or  not  the  applicant  can  be  trusted  ;  they  have 
the  word  of  the  professor  that  the  proposed 
expenditure  is  a  wise  one ;  and  they  have  the 
certainty  both  that  the  purchase  will  be  effected 
in  the  best  and  in  the  cheapest  market,  and  that 
the  money  they  lend  will  be  used  for  the  purpose 
for  which  it  is  granted. 

In  this  way  the  travelling  professor  is  a  direct 
bond  of  union  between  the  Savings  Bank,  the 
Village  Bank,  and  the  agricultural  association, 
while  constituting  in  himself  a  peregrinating 
bureau  of  agricultural  information,  of  which  all 
who  will  are  free  to  take  advantage.  So  we  get 
the  various  stages  of  the  Italian  system:  the 
savings  of  the  toilers  in  the  cities  are  paid  into 
the  Savings  Banks  or  the  People's  Banks ;  from 
thence  they  pass  on  to  the  Village  Banks  to  offer 
a  vivifying  agricultural  credit  to  workers  who 
would  otherwise  find  themselves  left  to  the 


n8  ITALY 

tender  mercies  of  the  professional  usurer;  the 
agricultural  syndicate  ensures  the  profitable 
expenditure  of  the  money ;  and  the  travelling 
professor,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  agricul- 
tural credit,  takes  to  the  very  door  of  the  poorest 
peasant  the  latest  discoveries  of  agricultural 
science,  and  fulfils  generally  so  useful  a  purpose 
that  M.  le  Comte  de  Rocquigny  says  in  a  report 
prepared  by  himself,  M.  Leopold  Mabilleau,  and 
M.  Charles  Rayneri,  for  the  Musee  Social,  on 
"  La  Prevoyance  Sociale  en  Italic  "  : — "  Dans  le 
plan  de  cet  harmonieux  ensemble  c'est  la  chaire 
ambulante  qui  eclaire  et  vivifie  le  systeme  tout 
entier,  en  regie  le  bon  fonctionnement,  et  en 
ecarte  les  perils."  It  is,  in  fact,  the  travelling 
professor  who  completes  a  general  plan  of 
campaign  which,  even  without  him,  had  attained 
a  unity  of  action  not  to  be  surpassed  elsewhere. 

To  this  outline  of  the  Italian  system  as  a 
whole  there  are  some  supplementary  details 
which  must  be  added.  The  part,  for  instance, 
which  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  played 
more  especially  in  the  promotion  of  Village 
Banks  in  Italy  must  not  be  ignored.  So  far 
back  as  1892  there  was  passed  at  the  tenth  Italian 
Catholic  Congress,  held  at  Genoa,  a  resolution 
which  affirmed  that  "  all  Catholic  rural  associa- 
tions shall  proceed  with  the  formation  of  strong 


ACTION   OF   THE  CLERICALS  119 

territorial  associations  of  landowners  and  peasants 
to  raise  morally,  intellectually,  and  economically 
the  conditions  of  agriculturists."  The  direct 
object  in  view  was,  however,  as  in  the  case  of 
Belgium,  to  combat  the  Socialist  propaganda  in 
the  country  districts,  while  a  bulletin  issued  by 
the  Catholic  Agricultural  Union  of  Lombardy 
pointed  to  the  facilities  which  that  institution 
offered  to  a  priest  "for  getting  into  closer  touch 
with  the  people,  and  the  powerful  means  it  affords 
for  giving  activity  and  life  to  Catholic  societies." 
With  such  zeal  was  the  movement  taken  up  by 
the  Roman  Catholic  priesthood  that  of  the  904 
Village  Banks  in  existence  in  Italy  in  1897  (as 
shown  by  the  Statistica  delle  Sodeta  Cooperative 
Italian^  issued  by  the  Lega  Nazionale  delle  Co- 
operative Italiane)  no  fewer  than  779  had  been 
formed  by  the  Catholics  during  the  preceding 
five  years.  In  fact,  the  official  organ  of  the  co- 
operative banks  in  Italy,  Credito  e  Cooper  azione, 
said  in  its  issue  of  August  16th,  1903  : — 

The  rural  banks  have  undergone  a  development  and  a 
diffusion  altogether  extraordinary ;  but  the  exuberance  of 
that  growth  has  been  to  their  detriment.  It  has  been 
sought  to  do  too  much  in  too  short  a  time,  and  that,  also, 
with  a  certain  emulation — not  to  speak  of  hostility — 
towards  Liberal  co-operation  (la  cooperazione  liber  ale).  In 
some  places  the  institutions  are  perfectly  sound ;  but  in 
several  they  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  rash  and  in- 


120  ITALY 

experienced  persons,  and  the  central  federation  has  not 
always  sufficed  to  preserve  them  from  errors  and  disaster. 
The  entire  body  of  the  clergy  have  wished  to  take  part 
in  a  course  of  action  that  has  been  altogether  precipitate^ 
and  it  will  be  a  heavy  task  to  save  in  rural  co-operation  the 
part  that  is  healthy. 

When  one  reads  that  a  certain  set  of  model 
rules  lays  down  that  members  of  a  Catholic 
Village  Bank  must  show  "  Christian  sentiment 
towards  religion,  the  Church,  and  the  Pope " ; 
that  another  insists  that  members  must  attend 
Mass  at  Easter  and  belong  to  no  society  that  is 
opposed  to  the  Catholic  Church  ;  and  that  a  large 
number  of  the  Catholic  banks  are  of  distinctly 
mushroom  growth — it  is  no  wonder  that  a  certain 
degree  of  criticism  should  have  been  aroused. 
But,  after  allowance  has  been  made  for  all  short- 
comings, there  is  left  a  sufficient  percentage  of 
clerical  as  well  as  of  non-clerical  institutions  to 
represent  a  steady  growth  of  agricultural  organ- 
izations which  is  undoubtedly  having  a  powerful 
effect  on  the  general  conditions  of  Italy,  while 
Catholics  and  non-Catholics  alike  are  now  show- 
ing a  greater  disposition  to  find  a  common  plat- 
form on  which  they  can  unite  for  securing  the 
further  material  progress  of  the  people. 

Complete  and  trustworthy  statistics  on  the 
present  position  of  the  movement  in  Italy  are 


WHAT   THE   SYSTEM   HAS   DONE  121 

not  yet  available,  but  it  is  estimated  that  of 
People's  Banks  there  are  657,  with  381,000  mem- 
bers and  a  capital  of  £4,200,000 ;  and  of  Village 
Banks  1,050,  with  95,000  members  and  £25,000 
capital.  In  1900  there  were  192  co-operative 
agricultural  associations,  with  45,000  members, 
and  the  collective  purchases  amounted  to 
£800,000.  Of  co-operative  dairies  (which  are 
spreading  rapidly  throughout  North  Italy)  there 
are  said  to  be  750,  with  37,000  members  and 
£40,000  capital.  The  co-operative  dairies  are 
being  followed  by  co-operative  wine  factories 
and  distilleries,  and  other  forms  of  the  general 
movement  are  represented  by  various  associations 
for  the  improvement  of  stock,  for  co-operative 
insurance,  etc. 

As  to  the  accomplished  results  in  Italy,  there 
may  not  have  been  equal  success  all  along  the 
line,  and  the  difficulties  have  been  found  especi- 
ally great  in  organizing  effective  systems  for 
the  co-operative  sale  of  produce,  so  that  though 
cauliflowers,  eggs,  and  other  such  things  are 
exported  in  prodigious  quantities,  each  trade 
remains  mostly  in  the  hands  of  middlemen 
dealers.  One  must  remember,  too,  that  much 
of  what  has  been  related  is  of  comparatively 
recent  growth,  and  that  the  full  development 
thereof  has  still  to  be  attained.  Yet  the  mem- 


122  ITALY 

bers  of  the  Musee  Social  commission  do  not 
hesitate  in  their  report  to  speak  of  the  agricul- 
tural revival  in  Italy  as  a  "resurrection,"  and 
there  is,  indeed,  abundant  evidence  that  from 
both  a  material  and  a  moral  standpoint  the 
outcome  of  the  movement  has  already  had  a 
most  powerful  influence  for  good. 

Materially,  that  decentralization  of  capital 
which  has  saved  the  Italian  agriculturist  from 
the  money-lender,  and  placed  an  easy  credit 
within  his  reach,  has,  in  the  first  place,  led  to  a 
greater  amount  of  land  being  bought  under 
cultivation,  as  shown  by  the  town  of  Sansevero, 
near  Foggia,  where,  in  a  little  over  ten  years, 
thanks  to  the  People's  Bank,  no  fewer  than 
8,000  acres  have  been  converted  into  vineyards. 
Then  the  increase  in  the  extent  of  the  land 
cultivated  has  been  followed  by  an  increase  per 
acre  in  the  yield  therefrom,  owing  to  the  greater 
use  of  fertilisers,  machinery,  etc.,  as  encouraged 
alike  by  the  spread  of  agricultural  instruction 
and  by  the  facilities  offered,  in  regard  to  pur- 
chase, by  the  agricultural  societies.  The  quality 
of  the  stock  has  improved ;  farm  buildings  that 
were  once  neglected,  from  lack  of  means,  are 
now  kept  in  good  order ;  agricultural  industries, 
and  especially  co-operative  dairies,  are  affording 
new  openings  to  energy  and  enterprise,  and  the 


MATERIAL  AND   MORAL  ADVANTAGES     123 

whole  agricultural  position,  though  still  far  from 
representing  complete  prosperity,  has  undergone 
an  improvement  that  is  little  short  of  marvellous, 
considering  how  recently  it  was  that  the  Italian 
peasantry  found  themselves  faced  by  some  of 
the  severest  forms  of  economic  depression  that 
any  country  could  well  be  called  upon  to  meet. 
Morally,  too,  the  effects  have  been  none  the 
less  striking.  To  be  rescued  from  the  grasp  of 
the  usurer  was  in  itself  almost  a  revolution  for 
the  Italian  peasant ;  and  the  revolution  was 
completed  when  he  found  that  he  was  no  longer 
a  solitary  unit,  left  to  struggle  against  adverse 
circumstances  as  best  he  could,  but  one  of  a 
village  community  which  could  draw  money 
from  the  towns,  and  would,  if  only  he  had  the 
good  opinion  of  his  neighbours,  advance  funds 
to  him,  for  agricultural  purposes,  simply  on  his 
word  of  honour.  Such  a  position — coupled 
with  the  fact  that  only  individuals  of  known 
probity  (irrespective  of  means)  were  admitted 
to  an  organization  each  member  of  which  was 
personally  liable  to  refund  the  sum  total  of  the 
loans,  in  case  of  need — was  a  moral  lesson  of 
immense  force,  and  in  many  an  Italian  village 
men  regarded  with  a  certain  degree  of  mistrust 
have  mended  their  ways  in  order  to  gain  the 
desired  membership.  In  other  cases  illiterates 


124  ITALY 

have  learned  to  write,  so  that  they  could  attach 
their  signatures  to  the  necessary  papers.  All 
these  and  the  various  other  conditions  following 
from  fraternal  association  have  had  their  reflex 
action  on  village  life  in  Italy,  investing  it  with 
interests  and  possibilities  hitherto  undreamed  of, 
and  filling  the  peasants  with  new  hope  and  trust 
in  the  future. 

Finally,  we  have  the  significant  fact  that  this 
economic  and  moral  transformation  in  Italy  has 
been  due  much  more  to  individual  initiative 
than  to  that  Government  intervention  on  which 
many  people  of  despondent  temperament  are 
apt  to  place  far  too  great  a  dependence.  Italian 
Governments  have  certainly  shown  their  sym- 
pathy with  the  movement  by  widening  the  func- 
tions and  improving  the  legal  status  of  the 
banks ;  by  giving  practical  encouragement  in  the 
setting  up  of  co-operative  dairies,  and  in  other 
ways  besides.  But  the  conception  of  the  Italian 
system  and  the  remarkable  success  with  which 
it  has  thus  far  been  carried  into  effect  are  alike 
primarily  due,  not  to  State  aid,  but  to  the 
wisdom  and  the  personal  energy  of  a  compara- 
tively small  number  of  individual  patriots. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
HOLLAND 

IN  the  early  eighties  the  agricultural  interests 
in  Holland  found  themselves  drifting  into  a 
most  serious  condition  of  economic  depression. 
With  the  steady  fall  of  prices  in  wheat,  more 
and  more  land  was  going  out  of  cultivation ;  in 
the  dairy  industry  the  competition  of  Denmark 
was  beginning  to  be  severely  felt ;  in  the  sale  of 
market-garden  produce  the  returns  were  steadily 
declining;  and  in  other  directions  besides  the  farm- 
ing classes  found  themselves  faced  by  a  decidedly 
dismal  prospect.  It  was  evident  that  fresh  and 
vigorous  efforts  would  have  to  be  made  if  Dutch 
agriculture  hoped  to  hold  its  own,  and  the 
question  arose  as  to  what  would  be  the  best 
direction  in  which  such  efforts  should  be  put 
forth. 

To  solve  this  problem  a  Royal  Commission 
was  appointed  in  1886,  and  the  report  it  pre- 
sented three  years  later  showed  that  there  was 
need  for  the  adoption  alike  of  State  aid  and  of 

125 


126  HOLLAND 

self-help,  each  of  which  principles,  indeed,  has 
since  been  most  actively  carried  into  effect. 

In  regard  to  State  aid,  it  was  seen  that  one  of 
the  most  pressing  requirements  of  the  situation 
was  to  secure  an  effective  national  system  of 
agricultural  and  horticultural  education  ;  and  the 
necessary  machinery  for  the  organization  of  such 
a  system  was  duly  provided  by  the  creation  of 
a  special  Department  of  the  Ministry  of  the 
Interior  for  the  administration  of  agricultural 
affairs,  such  Department  being  assisted  by  a 
Council  of  Agriculture,  which  not  only  acts  in 
an  advisory  capacity,  but  constitutes  an  Agricul- 
tural Bureau  of  Statistics  for  the  whole  of  the 
country.  The  State  Agricultural  College,  which 
had  already  been  in  operation  at  Wageningen 
since  1876,  was  now  supplemented  by  a  series  of 
local  winter  schools  for  the  teaching  of  agricul- 
ture or  horticulture,  and  by  a  variety  of  other 
educational  institutions  and  arrangements. 

The  nature  of  the  winter  schools  may  be 
illustrated  by  those  for  horticulture  and  market- 
gardening  established  at  Boskoop,  Naaldwyk, 
Aalsmeer,  and  Tiel.  The  course  of  instruction 
is  arranged  to  suit  the  conditions  of  the  par- 
ticular locality,  though  the  general  principles  of 
market-gardening  are  taught  at  each.  Boskoop, 
in  South  Holland — a  most  interesting  place  to 


WINTER   AGRICULTURAL  SCHOOLS          127 

visit — is  the  centre  of  a  district  in  which  about 
1,000  acres  of  land  are  devoted  to  market 
gardens,  divided  and  sub-divided  by  the  in- 
evitable canals,  and  market-gardening  and  flori- 
culture are,  consequently,  the  principal  subjects 
of  instruction  in  its  Winter  School.  The  local 
authorities  provided  both  site  and  buildings  for 
the  school,  which  has  five  class-rooms,  and 
residential  accommodation  for  its  director,  to- 
gether with  two  acres  of  gardens,  the  produce 
from  which  is  sold  to  supplement  the  grants 
made  by  the  State  for  the  carrying  on  of  the 
work.  Aalsmeer  is  one  of  the  curiosities  of 
Holland,  though  it  is  a  place  unknown  to  the 
ordinary  British  tourist.  Approached  by  boat, 
it  looks  like  a  series  of  perfectly  square  or  rect- 
angular floating  islands,  pegged  into  position,  as 
it  were,  to  prevent  their  floating  away.  These 
islands  have,  in  fact,  been  formed  by  the  thrifty 
Dutch  out  of  pieces  of  bog  land  that  have  risen 
from  time  to  time  from  the  bottom  of  the  adjoin- 
ing lake,  and  been  pushed  together  until  they 
were  sufficiently  large  to  form  fair-sized  gardens, 
the  original  stakes  driven  through  them  being 
supplemented  by  the  planting  of  trees,  the  roots 
of  which  have  penetrated  through  the  bog  and 
the  water  underneath  until  they  reached  the 
solid  earth.  On  these  islands  the  people  brought 


128  HOLLAND 

from  the  mainland  soil  enough  to  form  sub- 
stantial gardens,  and  there  they  live,  in  modest 
dwellings,  cultivating  their  produce,  which  a 
regular  service  of  boats  takes  off  each  day  to 
the  Amsterdam  market.  In  Aalsmeer,  there- 
fore, the  studies  followed  in  the  Winter  School 
are  devoted  mainly  to  gardening.  At  Naaldwyk 
the  chief  branch  of  instruction  is  the  cultivation 
of  fruit  and  vegetables,  and  at  Tiel  the  principal 
subject  taught  is  fruit  culture. 

The  particular  purpose  of  the  instruction  thus 
given  is,  as  defined  by  the  Royal  Decree  of  June 
3rd,  1901,  to  enable  persons  who  intend  to  take 
up  market-gardening  as  a  livelihood  to  obtain 
the  necessary  theoretical  knowledge  of  the  busi- 
ness at  the  least  possible  expense.  The  manage- 
ment of  each  school  is  entrusted  to  a  local 
committee  nominated  by  the  Minister  of  Water- 
ways, Trade,  and  Industry,  such  committee  being 
required  to  send  in  periodical  reports,  both  to 
the  Minister  and  to  the  Government  Inspector 
of  Intermediate  Education,  as  to  the  progress 
of  the  schools. 

Then  the  Government  have  established  in 
different  districts  a  series  of  seven  laboratories, 
each  with  its  director  and  its  staff  of  chemists 
and  botanists,  for  the  examination  and  testing 
of  seeds,  artificial  manures,  etc.  The  laboratory 


THE   QUESTION   OF   RENT  129 

at  Hoorii  (North  Holland),  the  centre  of  the 
dairying  industry,  has  in  addition  a  bacteriological 
department  and  an  experimental  farm.  The 
directors  of  all  these  laboratories  form  a  College 
which  meets  twice  a  year.  Distributed  through- 
out the  country,  also,  there  are  State  demon- 
strators, twelve  for  agriculture  and  seven  for 
horticulture,  who  give  such  personal  instruction 
to  the  farmers  as  may  be  needed ;  and  there  are 
district  veterinary  surgeons  whose  help  is  avail- 
able for  breeders  of  stock. 

So  in  these  and  other  ways  the  State  gave 
what  aid  it  could  in  the  relief  of  depressed  agri- 
culture, and  it  remains  to  be  seen  what  the 
Dutch  producers,  in  their  turn,  did  in  order  to 
help  themselves  by  helping  one  another. 

In  the  best  of  circumstances  their  position 
was  one  that  must  inevitably  have  had  its  dis- 
advantages. Of  these  one  of  the  most  serious 
was  the  question  of  rent.  In  a  country  like 
Holland,  so  circumscribed  in  dimensions,  and 
consisting  so  largely  of  land  kept  back  only  by 
artificial  means  from  the  grasp  of  the  ocean, 
farms  and  holdings  are  certain  to  command  a 
high  rental,  and  the  more  they  are  cultivated  the 
more  valuable  they  become.  Then,  again,  the 
Dutch  farmers  mostly  have  large  families,  and 
as  the  children  grow  up,  and  a  farm  becomes  too 


130  HOLLAND 

small  to  support  them  all,  some  of  them  have  to 
look  out  for  land  elsewhere,  such  requirement 
leading  to  a  still  further  increase  in  land  values. 
Thus  the  tenant  farmers  had  to  work  harder 
to  pay  the  increased  rents  to  their  landlords, 
of  whom  they  complained  that,  living  among 
the  attractions  of  the  Hague,  and  spending  their 
money  there,  they  drained  the  country  districts 
of  financial  resources. 

But  if  the  landlords  had  their  faults,  the 
farmers  had  theirs  as  well.  Without  being  a 
highly  cultured  person,  the  Dutch  agriculturist 
regards  himself  as  essentially  shrewd,  and  there 
was  a  time  when  he  was,  also,  essentially  slim. 
Reduced  to  the  necessity  of  finding  a  market  for 
his  produce  abroad,  he  thought  he  could  play 
tricks  with  the  foreigner  by  putting  good  fruit 
or  good  vegetables  on  the  top  of  his  sack,  and 
inferior  qualities  beneath.  The  said  practice  was 
one  that  in  bygone  days  was  more  especially 
adopted  in  the  Westland  district,  which  lies 
between  the  Hague  and  the  Hook  of  Holland, 
and  is  famous  for  its  fertility.  As  time  went  on 
Dutch  produce  in  general,  and  Westland  pro- 
duce in  particular,  began  to  get  a  bad  name 
on  the  English  market,  and  to  this  cause  was 
due,  in  part,  the  falling  off  in  prices  which,  as 
already  shown,  was  one  of  the  causes  that  led  to 


DUTCH   PRODUCERS  131 

the  appointment  of  the  Royal  Commission  in 
1886.  The  effect  of  these  reduced  prices  on  the 
growers  was  rendered  still  worse  by  the  fact  that 
the  disposal  of  their  produce  was  then  almost 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  middlemen,  into  whose 
pockets,  it  was  alleged,  went  most  of  the  profits. 
As  regards  the  dairy  farmers,  not  only  was  there 
a  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  qualities  of  the  butter, 
there  being  so  many  independent  producers,  but 
there  was  also  a  lack  of  uniformity  in  quantity, 
in  regard  to  butter  exported,  the  available  sup- 
plies being  ke-pt  back  for  the  home  market  when- 
ever it  was  thought  that  better  prices  could  be 
obtained  there  than  in  England. 

One  sees  from  all  this  how  thoroughly  justified 
the  Royal  Commission  of  1886  had  been  in 
recommending  self-help  as  well  as  State-help, 
and,  in  point  of  fact,  the  agricultural  community 
showed  themselves  no  more  backward  in  adopt- 
ing the  one  principle  than  the  Government  had 
been  in  acting  on  the  other. 

The  market-gardeners,  for  instance,  reorgan- 
ized their  industry  on  lines  that  represented 
some  almost  revolutionary  changes.  While  the 
State  was  teaching  them  how  to  produce  to  the 
best  advantage,  they  hit  upon  new  expedients 
for  selling  to  the  best  advantage.  All  through 
North  Holland,  for  example,  the  market-gar- 


132  HOLLAND 

deners  formed  themselves  into  co-operative 
societies  which  are  conducted  along  extremely 
practical  lines.  The  goods  of  the  members, 
before  being  offered  for  sale,  are  inspected  by 
officers  appointed  for  the  purpose,  and  any  that 
are  regarded  as  below  the  required  standard  are 
rejected,  while  those  that  are  passed  are  labelled 
with  the  registered  trade  mark  of  the  society. 
It  is  also  seen  that  the  consignments  are  of  the 
stated  quantity,  and  that  they  have  been  properly 
packed.  Thus  approved  of,  the  produce  is  offered 
for  sale  at  the  society's  mart,  the  auctioneer 
being  generally  the  president  of  the  local  society 
or  branch.  Many  of  the  societies  have  their  own 
auction  halls  ;  others  hold  their  auctions  in  hired 
buildings.  The  sales  take  place  every  night  or 
so  many  nights  a  week,  according  to  the  import- 
ance of  the  centre  and  the  season  of  the  year, 
and  they  are  attended  by  dealers  and  com- 
mission agents  from  Rotterdam,  Amsterdam, 
the  Hague,  and  elsewhere.  The  goods  sold  are 
paid  for  in  cash,  and  the  money  is  distributed 
weekly  among  the  members,  each  receiving  the 
sum  for  which  his  produce  has  been  sold,  less 
a  small  commission.  Apart  from  this  commis- 
sion, all  that  a  member  is  required  to  pay  to  his 
society  is  an  annual  subscription  of  Is.  8d.  The 
expenses  are  kept  at  a  minimum,  the  only  official 


MARKET   GARDENERS'   ORGANIZATION      133 

receiving  a  salary  being  the  clerk  of  the  society. 
Even  the  member  acting  as  auctioneer  gives  his 
services,  considering  himself  sufficiently  repaid 
by  the  honour  with  which  the  post  is  regarded. 

No  arrangement  could,  in  the  circumstances, 
have  been  devised  that  was  better  calculated  to 
promote  the  interests  of  the  market-gardeners, 
many  of  whom,  working  early  and  late,  lived 
the  life  of  labourers,  and,  after  paying  their 
helpers  and  their  landlord,  found  themselves 
with  little  more  than  the  equivalent  of  a 
labourer's  wages  in  the  way  of  profit.  To  men 
so  situated  it  was  all-important  that  they  should 
be  able  to  get  the  best  return  they  possibly  could 
for  their  produce. 

Among  the  largest  of  these  co-operative 
societies  of  Dutch  market -gardeners  is  the  one 
established  in  the  aforesaid  district  of  Westland, 
which  has  now,  through  the  instrumentality  of 
this  organization,  thoroughly  recovered  its  good 
name.  The  Westland  Society  is,  in  effect,  a 
federation  of  seven  local  societies,  whose  total 
sales  amount  to  about  £50,000  a  year.  It  is 
mostly  fruit  that  is  grown  in  Westland — straw- 
berries, raspberries,  red  currants,  peaches,  and 
grapes,  with  certain  quantities  of  tomatoes  and 
ghirkins.  The  neighbouring  markets  of  the 
Hague,  Scheveningen,  and  Rotterdam  are  easily 


134  HOLLAND 

reached,  a  steam  tramway  passing  through  every 
village  in  the  Westland ;  but  most  of  the 
produce  goes  to  the  Hook  of  Holland  for 
transport  to  England.  Another  important  fruit- 
growing centre  is  Beverwijk,  situated  to  the 
north  of  Ijmuiden.  The  industry  was  started 
here  by  two  or  three  peasants,  and  it  proved  so 
successful  that  it  was  soon  generally  adopted  by 
the  townspeople,  so  that  in  the  season  the  little 
gardens  of  which  Beverwijk  seems  to  mostly 
consist  will  be  found  full  of  raspberries,  straw- 
berries, and  red  currants,  a  large  proportion  of 
the  fruit  eventually  finding  its  way  to  the 
English  market.  Such  are  the  quantities  pro- 
duced at  Beverwijk  that  the  local  canals  have 
had  to  be  improved  to  facilitate  the  traffic. 

Then  there  have  been  societies  of  market- 
gardeners  established  in  the  district  between 
Alkmaar  and  Bovenkarspel  (near  to  Enkhuizen), 
where  vast  quantities  of  cabbages  and  cauli- 
flowers are  grown.  At  one  time  the  chief 
product  of  the  district  in  question  was  Edam 
cheese,  and  when  Edam  cheese  fetched  better 
prices,  and  was  more  largely  sold  on  the  market 
than  is  the  case  now,  the  farmers  were  not  only 
well  off,  but  comfortably  situated,  inasmuch  as 
they  could  hire  persons  at  a  moderate  wage  to 
do  all  the  work  of  cheesemaking,  and  themselves 


VEGETABLES   IN   CAR-LOAD   LOTS  135 

live  a  life  of  ease.  But  when  the  demand  for 
Edam  cheese  decreased,  because  the  consumers 
preferred  to  pay  lower  prices  for  other  makes, 
dwellers  in  the  district  in  question  looked  around 
for  an  alternative  source  of  income,  and  took  to 
cabbage  and  cauliflower  growing,  the  greater 
part  of  the  crops  they  raise  being  disposed  of 
by  auction  at  the  co-operative  sales  of  the  local 
market-gardeners'  societies. 

And  here  we  come  to  see  how  all  this  com- 
bination may  operate  to  the  advantage,  also,  of 
the  railways.  It  is  probable  that  most  of  the 
vegetables  in  question  will  be  conveyed  by 
canal-boat  to  the  town  where  the  co-operative 
auction -room  is  located ;  but  from  thence  the 
dealers  and  commission  agents  attending  the 
sales  will  send  large  consignments  to  France, 
to  Germany,  and  to  other  countries,  and  on 
these  long  journeys  such  perishables  must 
necessarily  go  by  train.  But  the  very  essence 
of  all  this  combination  is,  not  only  that  the 
growers  get  better  prices  for  their  produce,  and 
not  only  that  the  dealers  can  purchase  in  bulk, 
but,  also,  that  the  railways  get  regular  consign- 
ments in  car-load  lots,  and  are  able  to  make 
lower  rates  than  if  they  could  only  expect 
irregular  lots  of  comparatively  small  quantities, 
as  is  too  often  the  case  in  England.  So  it  is 


136  HOLLAND 

that  in  the  summer  season  a  "  cabbage  train," 
as  it  is  called,  will  start  each  day  from  Enk- 
huizen,  on  the  shores  of  the  Zuider  Zee,  and 
have  fresh  waggons  coupled  on  to  it  at  various 
points,  until  eventually  it  will  consist  of  from 
thirty  to  forty  waggons  of  cabbages  and  cauli- 
flowers. Passing  through  Amsterdam  and 
Rotterdam,  the  waggons  are  ultimately  taken 
on  to  various  points  in  Germany  or  Belgium— 
and  especially  to  Germany,  where  a  considerable 
proportion  of  the  cabbages  will  be  used  for  the 
purposes  of  sauerkraut.  From  other  parts  of 
Holland  cucumbers  will  be  taken  to  Germany 
in  waggon-load  lots,  and  from  Groningen  or 
Leeuwarden  there  will  be  started  daily  a  train 
which,  with  additions  made  at  other  stations 
en  route,  will  eventually  consist  of  ten  to  twenty 
waggons  loaded  up  with  meat  for  the  London 
market,  via  Flushing,  the  train  reaching  that  port 
at  grande  vitesse  speed. 

Among  the  dairy  farmers  of  Holland  the 
movement  in  favour  of  combination  has  been  no 
less  complete  than  among  the  market-gardeners. 
The  first  co-operative  dairy  set  up  by  them  was 
in  1878,  but  the  chief  development  has  been 
since  1890,  the  total  number  established  having 
increased  from  19  in  that  year  to  539  in  1902. 
Of  these  539  no  fewer  than  416  are  organized 


CO-OPERATIVE   DAIRIES  137 

into  six  different  Leagues,  and  these  Leagues, 
in  turn,  constitute  the  Confederation  of  Dutch 
Co-operative  Creameries,  established  by  Royal 
Decree  of  February  12th,  1901.  The  estimated 
number  of  farmers  supplying  milk  to  the  cream- 
eries represented  by  this  Confederation  is  40,000, 
and  the  butter  production  of  the  federated 
creameries  is  equal  to  about  14,900  tons  a  year. 
The  chief  purpose  of  the  organization  in  ques- 
tion is  to  guarantee  the  purity  of  the  butter, 
and  maintain  the  reputation  thereof  in  foreign 
markets,  inspections  and  analyses  being  made, 
and  recognized  trade  marks  affixed  to  the  con- 
signments coming  up  to  the  required  standard. 
In  the  southern  provinces  most  of  the  butter  is 
sold  by  auction  in  sale  rooms  established  by  the 
Leagues,  which  enforce  their  rules  and  regula- 
tions with  a  thoroughness  that  renders  adultera- 
tion, it  is  said,  "  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible." 
In  Friesland  there  is  a  Co-operative  Butter 
Export  Association  which  consigns  direct  to 
England.  Such  is  the  growth  of  the  butter 
trade  done  by  Holland  with  Great  Britain  that 
it  represented  a  value  of  £1,414,000  in  1900  ; 
£1,511,000  in  1901;  and  £1,974,000  in  1902, 
while  the  increased  profit  to  the  farmers,  as  the 
direct  result  of  their  adoption  of  the  co-opera- 
tive system  of  butter  production,  combined  with 


138  HOLLAND 

the  precautionary  measures  taken  by  their 
various  leagues  and  their  central  federation,  is 
estimated  at  from  10  to  30  per  cent.,  as  com- 
pared with  the  gains  secured  under  the  methods 
previously  in  force. 

A  further  development  of  the  co-operative 
principle  in  Holland  has  been  the  formation  of 
Agricultural  Unions,  each  having  its  group  of 
local  societies.  Of  these  Agricultural  Unions 
there  are  now  eleven  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  the  main  object  they  have  in  view  being 
to  form  a  common  centre  in  their  respective 
districts  for  disseminating  information,  and 
otherwise  promoting  the  interests  of  agriculture. 
In  furtherance  of  this  aim  each  local  society  will 
hold  a  meeting  every  fortnight  or  so  to  discuss 
farming  topics.  These  meetings  are  not  only  a 
source  of  mutual  improvement  in  regard  to 
agriculture,  but  they  promote  a  community  of 
interest  which  in  various  ways  facilitates  the 
development  of  the  combination  principle.  In 
some  instances  the  landlords  themselves  join  the 
societies,  and  give  a  ready  assistance  in  carrying 
on  the  organization.  Another  purpose  fulfilled 
by  the  local  societies  is  the  purchase  of  seeds, 
manures,  or  agricultural  implements  for  the 
members ;  and  still  another  is  the  holding  of 
periodical  agricultural  exhibitions  on  either  a 


THE   BENEFITS   SECURED  139 

small  or  a  large  scale,  according  to  the  import- 
ance of  the  society.  The  Agricultural  Unions 
have  also  been  the  means  of  bringing  about  the 
establishment  of  agricultural  credit  banks  on 
the  Raiffeisen  principle,  with  a  central  organiza- 
tion in  Utrecht ;  while  in  the  South  of  Holland 
the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  have  taken  up  the 
movement,  and  are  actively  engaged  in  forming 
separate  societies  and  separate  banks  exclusively 
for  Roman  Catholics. 

What,  therefore,  with  the  very  practical  aid 
given  by  the  Government,  and  the  active  adop- 
tion of  self-help  principles  by  farmers  and 
peasants,  a  network  of  agricultural  organization 
is  being  gradually  spread  throughout  the  whole 
of  Holland,  and  abundant  evidence  is  forthcoming 
that  the  results  are  proving  beneficial  to  every- 
one concerned.  The  cultivators  of  the  soil  get 
better  results  and  higher  profits ;  new  sources 
of  revenue  have  taken  the  place  of  those  that 
were  falling  off ;  the  "  Dead  Cities  of  the 
Zuider  Zee  "  are  showing  a  good  deal  of  life  and 
vigour ;  the  operations  of  the  dealers  and  com- 
mission agents  are  facilitated  ;  and  the  railways 
are  enabled  to  quote  rates  which  are  more  satis- 
factory alike  to  the  traders  and  to  themselves 
than  would  be  the  case  if  the  freight  they 
handled  came  from  an  entirely  unorganized  body 


140  HOLLAND 

of  producers.  There  are  even  those  who  antici- 
pate that  when  the  Agricultural  Unions  of 
Holland  became  still  more  powerful  they  may 
be  able  to  exercise  a  wholesome  influence  in 
bringing  about  a  reform  of  the  land  laws.  But 
a  consideration  of  that  point  would  take  me 
further  into  the  domain  of  Dutch  politics  than 
it  is  here  necessary  for  me  to  enter. 


CHAPTER  IX 
HUNGARY 

ONE  of  the  principal  causes  for  that  un- 
doubted improvement  which  has  been 
brought  about  of  late  years  in  the  position  of 
the  individual  agriculturists  of  Hungary  is  to  be 
found  in  the  organization  there  of  an  effective 
system  of  agricultural  credit. 

The  largest  landowners  were  the  first  to  resort 
(as  they  did  in  the  sixties)  to  the  formation  of 
a  co-operative  credit  bank,  by  means  of  which 
they  hoped  to  prevent  the  breaking  up  of  the 
great  estates ;  and  in  the  seventies  the  middle- 
class  landowners  followed  their  example,  estab- 
lishing another  bank,  in  their  own  particular 
interests.  But  neither  of  those  institutions  met 
the  case  of  the  peasant  farmer,  whose  position 
was,  perhaps,  worse  than  that  of  either  of  the 
classes  above  him. 

To  understand  the  exact  nature  of  the  situa- 
tion in  which  the  peasant  farmer  of  Hungary 
found  himself,  one  must  go  back  to  the  year 

141 


142  HUNGARY 

1848,  when  the  last  remains  of  the  feudal  system 
disappeared  from  that  country.  Prior  to  the 
year  mentioned,  the  humble  cultivator  of  the 
soil  had  to  look  to  the  owner  of  the  estate  when 
he  wanted  financial  help,  for  he  himself  had  no 
property  on  which  he  could  raise  loans.  But  his 
position  was  altered  when,  at  last,  the  land  he 
cultivated  belonged  to  him ;  and  he  then  also 
became  an  object  of  greater  interest  to  the 
money-lenders,  who  had  previously  regarded 
him  as  beneath  their  notice,  while  the  compila- 
tion of  an  elaborate  system  of  land  registers— 
not  completed  until  1860  —  enabled  them  to 
readily  ascertain  the  position  of  each  peasant  in 
regard  to  the  land  he  owned,  and  the  extent  to 
which  it  might  already  have  been  mortgaged. 

The  money-lenders  were  mostly  Jews  from 
Galicia  or  Russia — men,  that  is  to  say,  who 
neither  by  race  nor  language  had  any  affinity 
with  their  victims — and  they  so  operated  that 
many  of  the  peasant  farmers  became  virtually 
their  slaves.  There  was  a  monotonous  sameness 
about  their  method  of  procedure.  They  would 
first  start  an  inn,  or,  alternatively,  a  store,  and 
be  especially  friendly  with  any  one  of  their 
customers  who  happened  to  have  a  fairly  pros- 
perous property.  On  the  slightest  suggestion 
they  would  offer  to  lend  him  money,  and  at 


MONEY-LENDERS   AND   THEIR  WAYS        143 

first  would  press  him  to  accept  it — particularly 
on  occasions  when  he  might  have  taken  more 
liquor  than  was  good  for  him.  In  this  way 
the  peasant  would  accumulate  a  bigger  and 
still  bigger  burden  of  debt  with  the  apparently 
easy-going  innkeeper.  Then,  suddenly,  at  some 
moment  when  he  knew  the  debtor  could  not 
possibly  pay,  the  money-lender  would  demand 
payment  in  full,  and  take  possession  of  his 
entire  property.  But  the  money-lender  did  not 
want  to  be  a  farmer  himself,  so  he  would  let 
the  peasant  remain  there,  requiring  him,  how- 
ever, to  pay,  not  only  a  rent  for  house  and  land, 
but  even  for  the  "  hire  "  of  the  oxen — hitherto 
his  own — which  he  required  for  the  ploughing 
operations.  In  this  way  everything  the  peasant 
himself  gained,  save  only  a  sum  barely  sufficient 
to  keep  himself  and  his  family  alive,  went  into 
the  pocket  of  the  money-lender. 

This  system  was  more  especially  in  vogue  in 
the  mountain  districts  in  the  North-east  of 
Hungary,  inhabited  mainly  by  Slavs  and  Ruma- 
nians of  the  most  uncultured  type,  and  no  match 
for  the  keener-witted  individuals  who  preyed 
upon  them.  Matters  were  not  so  bad  in  the 
plains,  where  the  superior  culture  and  the  better 
position  generally  of  the  Magyar  peasants  made 
them  less  susceptible  to  the  wiles  of  the  money- 


144  HUNGARY 

lenders ;  but  even  they  too  often  found,  when 
they  required  to  raise  a  loan  to  meet  their  agri- 
cultural needs,  that  they  had  to  pay  for  it  40,  45, 
or  even  50  per  cent. 

To  the  most  far-seeing  of  Hungarian  patriots 
who  were  watching  the  course  of  events  at  home 
and  abroad,  it  was  evident  there  was  an  absolute 
need  to  safeguard  the  agricultural  interests  of 
the  country  by  putting  within  the  reach  of  the 
peasant  farmers  the  same  advantage  of  an  easy 
co-operative  credit  as  had  been  secured  by  the 
larger  landowners.  The  subject  was  discussed 
at  a  conference  held  at  Budapest  in  1885,  and  it 
was  resolved  to  take  action.  But  the  very  im- 
poverishment of  the  peasants  in  the  "  congested 
districts"  of  the  North-east  made  it  impossible 
to  start  operations  there,  the  people  being  unable 
to  provide  the  means  which  would  constitute 
the  necessary  capital,  and  the  first  agricultural 
co-operative  bank  in  Hungary  for  peasant 
farmers  was  set  up,  in  1887,  by  Count  Alexander 
Karolyi,  in  the  comparatively  well-to-do  county 
of  Pest,  where  there  was  a  population  of  some 
million  and  a  half  of  people. 

But  when  twenty  village  banks  had  been 
established  the  necessity  arose  for  a  reconsidera- 
tion of  the  position.  In  the  richer  districts  the 
local  residents  were  dissatisfied  with  the  rate  of 


VILLAGE  BANKS  145 

interest  allowed  them  on  their  deposits  by  the 
village  banks  (which  were  based  on  the  usual 
Raiffeisen  principles),  and  they  began  to  with- 
draw their  money  in  order  to  set  up  Joint  Stock 
banks  instead ;  while  in  the  poorer  districts  there 
was  a  difficulty  not  alone  in  raising  capital,  but 
also  in  getting  men  of  sufficient  capacity  to  act  as 
secretaries.  The  choice  generally  lay  between  the 
Protestant  clergyman,  the  Roman  Catholic  priest, 
and  the  village  schoolmaster ;  but  all  three  became 
ineligible  whenever  religious  difficulties  arose. 

Then  there  was  another  grave  source  of 
trouble.  The  money-lenders  had  taken  alarm 
at  a  movement  which  threatened  to  deprive 
them  of  a  lucrative  occupation,  and  they  hit 
upon  a  scheme  as  ingenious  as  it  was  unscrupu- 
lous. Affecting  a  friendly  interest  in  the  village 
banks,  they  would  hand  in  substantial  deposits 
in  the  winter,  and  the  officials  would  welcome 
such  an  addition  to  the  available  funds.  But 
in  the  following  spring,  when  practically  all  the 
capital  had  been  advanced  in  loans  to  the 
members,  the  money-lenders  would  suddenly 
demand  repayment  of  their  deposits,  with  the 
result  that  the  village  bank,  dependent  on  its 
own  resources,  would  be  driven  into  bankruptcy, 
— which,  of  course,  wras  just  what  the  money- 
lenders wanted. 


146  HUNGARY 

A  solution  of  these  difficulties  was  sought  by 
the  setting  up,  in  1890,  of  a  co-operative  credit 
bank  for  the  county  of  Pest.  This  county  bank 
was  to  serve  a  three-fold  purpose.  It  would 
place  the  surplus  deposits  of  the  wealthier 
districts  at  the  disposal  of  the  poorer  ones  for 
the  purposes  of  loans  ;  it  would  so  control  the 
formation  and  the  operation  of  the  village  banks 
as  to  ensure  their  being  based  on  beneficent 
motives  instead  of  simply  a  desire  for  divi- 
dends ;  and  it  would  send  travelling  accountants 
through  the  districts  concerned  in  order  to  see 
that  the  books  of  the  local  banks  were  properly 
kept,  and  to  give  the  officials  such  advice  or  in- 
struction as  they  might  require.  The  further 
arrangement  was  made  by  the  county  co- 
operative credit  bank  (of  which  Count  Karolyi 
became  the  chairman)  that,  as  an  additional 
means  of  checking  the  tactics  of  the  money- 
lenders in  their  campaign  against  the  village 
banks,  no  branch  should  enter  into  serious 
obligations  with  non-members,  in  the  way  of 
receiving  substantial  deposits,  without  first  con- 
sulting the  central  office. 

The  capital  for  the  new  county  co-operative 
credit  bank  was  raised  by  the  issue  of  shares  to 
be  taken  up  by  the  local  banks.  Of  these  there 
were  then  about  200  ;  but  the  effect  on  the 


iNFEED   FOR   BROADER   ACTION  147 

movement  of  the  greater  degree  of  utility  and 
public  confidence  brought  about  by  the  new 
policy  was  that  it  developed  with  a  rush. 
Within  two  years  400  more  village  banks  had 
been  formed.  As,  however,  each  new  bank 
naturally  wanted  a  larger  sum  to  start  with 
than  it  might  need  to  borrow  later  on,  the 
officials  of  the  county  bank  found  it  impossible 
to  provide  sufficient  capital  to  meet  all  require- 
ments. 

Meanwhile  applications  were  coming  in  from 
other  counties  wanting  to  be  organized  on  simi- 
lar lines,  and  there  were  still  those  "  congested 
districts"  in  the  North-east  that  stood  in  es- 
pecial need  of  a  helping  hand.  So  from  outside 
the  movement,  the  cry  was  raised,  that  private 
effort,  which  had  thus  far  struggled  so  manfully 
with  a  task  of  such  magnitude,  must  be  supple- 
mented by  State  aid;  and  in  1898  the  Hungarian 
Minister  of  Agriculture  introduced  and  secured 
the  passing  of  a  Bill  for  the  creation  of  a 
Central  Co-operative  Credit  Bank  which  would 
operate  over  the  entire  country.  With  this 
Central  Credit  Bank  all  the  local  co-operative 
credit  banks  that  chose  could  become  affiliated 
by  subscribing  for  shares,  and  various  practical 
benefits,  in  addition  to  the  facilities  for  obtaining 
advances,  were  offered  to  them  so  to  do.  The 


148  HUNGARY 

State  itself  took  shares  to  the  value  of  £40,000, 
and  claimed  the  right  to  exercise  a  controlling 
voice  in  the  general  management.  Individual 
sympathisers  with  the  scheme  were  allotted 
£80,000  worth  of  shares ;  but  any  dividend 
which  may  be  paid  to  them  must  not  exceed 
4  per  cent.,  and  they  are  to  be  bought  out  as 
the  funds  allow,  so  that  eventually  the  only 
proprietors  of  Hungary's  Central  Co-operative 
Credit  Bank  will  be  the  co-operative  associations 
and  the  State,  the  share  of  the  latter  represent- 
ing about  one-tenth  of  the  whole. 

It  now  became  possible  to  extend  operations 
to  the  congested  districts  in  the  mountains  to 
the  North-east ;  but  there  had  to  be  a  further 
trial  of  strength  with  the  professional  money- 
lenders. In  one  village,  for  instance,  the  leaders 
of  the  movement  held  a  meeting  of  the  peasants 
to  induce  them  to  start  a  village  co-operative 
bank,  which  the  central  organization  would  now 
be  able  to  support.  The  peasants  took  a  few 
days  to  consider  the  matter.  They  then  gave 
a  reply  in  the  negative.  Inquiry  showed  that 
most  of  the  villagers  were  indebted  to  a  group 
of  money-lenders  who  had  set  up  a  local  bank 
of  their  own  and  now  threatened  them  that 
if  they  agreed  to  the  starting  of  a  co-operative 
credit  bank  in  the  place  they  would  at  once 


CHANGED   ASPECTS   OF  VILLAGE   LIFE     149 

call  in  the  whole  of  the  outstanding  loans.  But 
the  propagandists  were  equal  to  the  occasion. 
They  obtained  from  the  central  fund  a  sum  of 
money  sufficient  to  pay  off  the  debts  of  the 
entire  village,  thus  getting  the  peasants  effect- 
ually out  of  the  grasp  of  the  money-lenders; 
and  they  then  established  the  co-operative  credit 
bank,  debiting  the  peasants  with  the  amounts 
paid  on  their  behalf. 

The  organization  of  the  Central  Co-operative 
Credit  Bank  gave  a  further  great  stimulus  to 
the  general  movement,  so  that  by  the  end  of 
1903  there  were  about  2,000  local  co-operative 
credit  banks  in  Hungary,  and  the  year's  business 
represented  a  turnover  of  some  £3,000,000.  But 
the  work  that  is  being  done  by  the  village  banks 
goes  far  beyond  the  advance  to  agriculturists  of 
so  much  money  in  the  form  of  loans. 

One  comes  here  to  an  especially  interesting 
phase  of  what  may  be  called  the  "  new  village- 
life"  of  the  country.  It  is  obligatory  on  the 
members  of  a  local  co-operative  credit  bank  in 
Hungary  that  they  should  pay  a  small  weekly 
subscription — one  penny,  twopence,  or  three- 
pence, as  the  case  may  be — towards  the  funds 
from  which  the  wants  of  those  requiring  loans 
can  be  supplied.  The  officers  of  the  bank  at- 
tend on  the  Saturday  or  the  Sunday  afternoon 


150  HUNGARY 

to  receive  these  weekly  subscriptions,  and  the 
occasion  is  one  for  the  meeting  together  of  the 
villagers,  who  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity 
to  talk  over  their  common  requirements.  Arti- 
ficial manures  are  not  much  required  in  the 
plains  of  Hungary,  but  there  is  a  good  demand 
for  feeding  -  stuffs,  and  the  peasants  at  their 
weekly  gathering  will  add  together  the  quantities 
that  each  may  want,  and  so  make  up  a  fairly 
good  combined  order.  Their  village  bank  is 
probably  in  touch  with  a  co-operative  supply 
association,  and  the  local  officials  will,  accord- 
ingly, arrange  the  whole  transaction  for  the 
peasants,  obtaining  and  distributing  the  supplies, 
and  debiting  each  purchaser  with  the  amount 
due  from  him,  if  he  cannot  pay  at  once.  Other 
agricultural  necessaries  are  obtained  in  the  same 
way,  so  that  although  there  may  not  be  any 
actual  purchase  associations  in  particular  locali- 
ties, a  good  deal  of  combined  buying  may  go  on, 
all  the  same. 

The  material  benefits  derived  from  these  new 
conditions  are  self-evident;  but  the  moral  results 
have  been  still  more  remarkable.  It  was  left 
for  some  of  the  Hungarian  clergy  to  discover  a 
fact  which  had  escaped  the  notice  of  the  leaders 
of  the  movement,  and  one  which  they  had  cer- 
tainly not  aimed  at  producing,  namely,  that  since 


A   SOCIAL   REVOLUTION  151 

the  advent  into  the  rural  districts  of  agricultural 
organization,  with  its  co-operative  credit  and 
other  advantages,  there  had  been  a  noticeable 
decrease  in  the  amount  of  drunkenness.  Not 
only  was  this  fact  verified,  but  it  was  soon  ac- 
counted for.  Previously  the  peasants  had  met 
at  the  village  tavern  on  Sunday  afternoons,  for 
the  sake  not  so  much  of  actual  drinking  as  of 
social  intercourse.  But  the  weekly  gathering 
at  the  bank  offices  made  it  no  longer  necessary 
for  them  to  go  to  the  village  inn  to  meet  one 
another.  Hence  there  was  less  drinking,  and 
the  drunkennness  which  had  long  been  the  curse 
of  many  of  the  villages  was  steadily  declining. 

The  good  influences  thus  unwittingly  set  up 
were  extended  in  another  direction.  In  many 
of  the  Hungarian  villages  the  advent  of  the 
co-operative  credit  bank  was  followed  by  the 
setting-up  of  a  co-operative  store  and  also  of 
a  Farmers'  Club,  all  three  often  being  in  one 
and  the  same  building.  The  Farmers'  Club 
generally  takes  the  form  of  a  library  and  reading- 
room,  and  constitutes  both  a  centre  for  in- 
tellectual and  social  development  and  a  distinct 
counter-attraction  to  the  village  inn. 

Nor  did  the  aforesaid  moral  results  end  even 
here.  Borrowing  from  the  professional  money- 
lenders under  the  former  conditions  had  been 


1 52  HUNGARY 

done  with  a  sense  of  shame,  and  a  peasant  who 
raised  a  loan  in  this  way  generally  tried  to  keep 
the  fact  from  the  knowledge  of  his  fellow  - 
villagers,  who  would  understand  only  too  well  to 
what  the  transaction  might  lead.  These  secret 
borrowings  preyed  no  less  on  the  spirits  of  the 
borrower  than,  eventually,  they  did  on  his 
financial  resources.  But  when  the  co-operative 
credit  bank  was  introduced  the  publicity  of  all 
its  proceedings  constituted  one  of  its  essential 
characteristics.  The  peasant  wanting  a  loan  had 
to  convince  his  fellow-members  (who  would  be 
personally  responsible  should  he  fail  to  repay  it) 
that  he  required  the  money  for  a  legitimate 
purpose.  Everybody  in  the  village  would  thus 
hear  of  the  matter,  and  be  in  a  position  to 
discuss  it  if  they  thought  fit.  Beyond,  also,  the 
particular  occasion  for  the  loan,  the  borrower 
would  have  to  be  a  man  possessing  the  good 
opinion  of  his  fellow- villagers  before  they  would 
grant  an  advance.  A  direct  incentive  was  given 
to  him,  therefore,  to  lead  a  steady,  sober,  and 
industrious  life,  and,  besides,  to  keep  out  of 
debt  in  other  directions,  for  his  creditors  would 
assuredly  come  down  upon  him  at  once  if  they 
found  he  was  raising  money  from  the  co-operative 
credit  bank  and  did  not  propose  to  pay  them 
their  due.  A  healthy  public  opinion  was  thus 


NATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY        153 

brought  to  bear  upon  the  actions  and  general 
conduct  of  the  peasants,  and  the  effect  thereof 
was  to  raise  the  tone  alike  of  individuals  and  of 
the  village  life  in  general. 

To  this  list  of  moral  results  should  be  added 
the  fact  that  religious  differences  also  are 
becoming  less  acute  in  Hungarian  villages,  as 
the  outcome  of  the  new  economic  movement. 
Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics  meet  together 
on  a  common  footing  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
mutual  benefits,  and  their  discovery  of  the  fact 
that,  though  they  differ  on  some  points,  they 
can  work  together  in  complete  harmony  on 
others,  is  having  a  wholesome  influence  on  their 
daily  relations. 

Conjointly  with  the  action  of  those  who 
sought  to  promote  the  revival  of  agriculture  in 
Hungary  by  the  direct  means  of  that  co-operative 
credit  which  constituted  the  real  backbone  of  the 
whole  movement,  must  be  placed  the  activity  of 
the  National  Agricultural  Society,  the  county 
agricultural  societies,  and  the  various  co-operative 
agricultural  combinations  connected  therewith. 
Established  in  1830  on  the  foundations  of  an 
older  body,  known  as  the  "Breeders'  Associa- 
tion," the  National  Agricultural  Society  operated 
for  many  years  on  the  usual  lines  of  agricultural 
societies  of  the  old-fashioned  type,  that  is  to  say, 


154  HUNGARY 

it  organized  exhibitions,  circulated  literature,  and 
aimed  at  extending  scientific  knowledge  on 
agricultural  subjects.  In  addition  to  this  it 
secured  the  formation  of  local  branches  to  pro- 
mote the  same  general  purposes,  and  it  helped 
to  bring  about  the  holding  of  national  confer- 
ences of  farmers.  Of  late  years,  however,  it 
has  developed  a  new  policy  by  making  great 
exertions  to  establish  agricultural  combinations 
on  co-operative  lines,  eventually  creating,  in 
1896,  a  "National  League  of  Agricultural 
Societies,"  for  which  it  acts  in  the  capacity  of 
an  executive  committee. 

One  of  the  earliest  of  the  co-operative 
organizations  formed  among  Hungarian  pro- 
ducers for  the  promotion  of  special  interests 
was  a  union  of  wine-growers.  Of  more  im- 
mediate concern,  however,  to  the  British  farmer 
is  the  Central  Co-operative  Creamery  Society  of 
Budapest.  This  combination  was  created  in 
1883  for  the  supply  of  milk  and  dairy  products 
of  guaranteed  quality,  and  under  the  best 
conditions,  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  capital,  the 
business  being  so  conducted  as  to  yield  to  the 
farmers,  in  their  turn,  a  maximum  of  possible 
profit.  Operations  were  begun  in  a  very  small 
way  in  a  house  rented  for  the  purpose.  By 
1885  the  concern  had  prospered  so  much  that  it 


FARMERS   IN   COMBINATION  155 

was  able  to  build  extensive  premises  for  itself, 
and  these  had  to  be  further  enlarged  in  1900. 
They  now  cover  two  acres  of  ground  in  Buda- 
pest. There  are  received  daily  at  this  central 
creamery  close  on  9,000  gallons  of  milk  from 
100  farms.  Of  this  quantity  3,250  gallons  are 
sold  to  householders  either  from  branch  shops  or 
from  milk-carts ;  4,000  gallons  are  delivered  to 
public  institutions  and  wholesale  customers,  and 
the  remainder  is  used  for  cream  or  butter.  The 
total  sum  paid  to  the  members  for  the  milk 
supplied  by  them,  plus  profits  on  the  business 
after  the  payment  of  expenses,  comes  to 
£80,000  a  year. 

Another  development  of  special  interest  to 
British  growers  is  the  Hungarian  Farmers'  Co- 
operative Society  for  supplying  produce  for  sale 
in  the  market-halls  of  Budapest.  Created  on  the 
initiative  of  the  Hungarian  National  Agricul- 
tural Society,  this  organization  advises  its  mem- 
bers as  to  the  kinds  of  produce  most  likely  to 
find  purchasers  on  the  markets,  gives  practical 
guidance  in  respect  to  growing,  packing,  and 
despatch,  receives  the  produce  in  Budapest, 
supervises  storage  and  sale,  and  remits  the  pro- 
ceeds of  such  sale  to  the  producer,  less  a  small 
charge  for  expenses.  The  business  thus  done  by 
the  society  for  its  members  represents  a  turn- 


156  HUNGARY 

over  of  from  £21,000  to  £22,000  a  year.  A 
further  branch  has  now  been  taken  up  in  the 
collection  of  eggs  for  export.  Word  is  sent 
week  by  week  to  the  country  sections  telling 
them  how  many  eggs  the  department  will  accept 
for  two  crowns  (Is.  Sd.).  The  local  branch  then 
gathers  in  the  eggs  from  its  members,  and  for- 
wards them  in  boxes  of  1,440  to  Budapest, 
where  they  are  examined  and  sorted  before 
being  packed  for  export.  The  profits  are  di- 
vided among  the  members  as  a  bonus  on  the 
agreed  price  already  paid  to  them.  The  ex- 
periment has  been  a  complete  success,  and  still 
more  country  branches  are  being  vigorously 
organized. 

The  activity  shown  by  the  Hungarian  Na- 
tional Agricultural  Society  in  bringing  about 
these  various  phases  of  an  up-to-date  organiza- 
tion is  being  well  followed  by  the  county  agri- 
cultural societies.  On  this  there  is  much  that 
could  be  said,  but  the  sphere  of  usefulness 
which  a  county  agricultural  society  fills  in 
Hungary  could  not,  perhaps,  be  better  illus- 
trated than  by  the  following  description  of  the 
work  done  by  the  agricultural  society  of  the 
county  of  Arad,  as  given  by  Mr.  T.  S.  Dymond, 
of  the  Essex  County  Laboratories,  in  a  paper 
on  "Hungarian  Agriculture"  read  by  him  at 


COUNTY  SOCIETIES  157 

a  meeting  of  the  Farmers'  Club  (London)  in 
February,  1903:— 

It  has  constituted  itself  a  co-operative  society  for  the 
purchase  and  sale  of  agricultural  commodities.  It  has 
established  in  16  peasant-farming  villages  of  the  county 
co-operative  stores  for  the  villagers.  It  has  organized  in 
the  villages  15  co-operative  credit  banks  affiliated  with 
the  National  Credit  Society,  12  co-operative  societies  for 
egg-collection,  7  co-operative  dairies,  and  1  co-opera- 
tive society  for  the  collection  and  sale  of  corn.  It  has 
provided  premises  for,  and  started,  peasant  farmers'1  clubs, 
with  library,  reading-room,  etc.,  and  winter  schools  of  agri- 
culture for  the  farmers1  sons.  Lastly,  it  has  organized 
a  model  peasant  farm  of  57  acres  in  the  heart  of  the 
peasant-farming  district,  which,  in  common  with  80  other 
farms  in  other  counties,  is  equipped  with  the  implements 
and  stock  considered  to  be  most  suitable  for  the  needs  of 
the  particular  district,  the  cost  being  paid  for  partly  by 
the  county  and  partly  by  the  State.  All  this  it  has  done 
in  addition  to  the  periodical  county  or  local  shows  which 
usually  exhaust  the  imagination  of  our  own  county  agri- 
cultural societies. 

The  "co-operative  society  for  the  collection 
and  sale  of  corn  "  here  referred  to  is  a  form  of 
agricultural  combination  peculiar  to  Hungary, 
and  deserves,  perhaps,  a  more  detailed  notice 
than  Mr.  Dymond  was  able  to  give  to  it  in  his 
paper. 

Experience  had  taught  the  farmers  that,  so 
long  as  each  relied  on  his  own  individual  powers 
in  the  disposal  of  his  corn,  he  laboured  under 


158  HUNGARY 

certain  distinct  disadvantages.  He  was  especially 
at  the  mercy  of  any  "ring"  of  buyers  which 
might  be  formed,  for  they  knew  that  even  if  he 
could  afford  to  keep  back  his  crop  for  a  more 
favourable  market  it  was  practically  impossible 
for  a  farmer  located  any  distance  from  a  railway 
to  hold  his  crop  until  the  winter,  because  he 
would  not  then  be  able  to  get  it  to  the  railway 
station,  owing  to  the  state  of  the  roads. 

To  meet  the  position  thus  created,  the  farmers 
in  a  number  of  districts  formed  co-operative 
organizations  which  secured  loans  from  the  credit 
banks  for  the  construction  of  corn  elevators  on 
sidings  near  to  some  conveniently-situated  rail- 
way station ;  and  to  these  elevators  the  farmers 
would  at  once  send  their  corn  to  be  stored,  the 
individual  lots  losing  their  identity,  but  repre- 
senting, on  the  whole,  analogous  qualities  of 
grain.  By  means  of  these  elevators  the  avail- 
able supplies  could  be  held  any  length  of  time. 
Not  only  was  the  previous  difficulty  of  getting 
them  to  the  railway  station  in  the  winter  obvi- 
ated, but  the  ultimate  collective  sale  meant  the 
transport  of  the  corn  on  the  railway  in  bulk, 
thus  effecting  a  considerable  economy  as  com- 
pared with  what  would  have  been  paid  had  each 
farmer  sent  off  his  own  particular  lot  as  a  sepa- 
rate consignment.  Indeed,  there  is  at  least  one 


CO-OPERATIVE   CORN-ELEVATORS  159 

instance  where,  by  this  means,  the  society  was 
able  to  save  sufficient  on  the  railway  rates  to 
pay  for  the  cost  of  the  corn  elevator.  Financial 
arrangements  were,  at  the  same  time,  made  by 
which  the  farmers  obtained  advances  from  the 
banks  on  the  corn  they  sent  to  the  elevators, 
and,  with  these  advances  in  hand,  they  were 
able  to  wait  for  the  balance  until  such  time  as 
the  sale  could  be  effected  to  the  best  advantage. 

So  well  has  this  further  development  in  the 
way  of  agricultural  combination  answered  in 
Hungary  that  a  central  organization  is  being 
projected  for  the  express  purpose  of  encouraging 
and  facilitating  the  construction  of  co-operative 
corn-elevators  in  all  the  corn-growing  districts 
of  the  country. 

Additional  evidence  of  the  way  in  which  the 
general  system  is  operating  in  Hungary  may  be 
obtained  from  an  account  of  the  second  exhibi- 
tion of  the  Hungarian  National  Agricultural 
Society,  at  Pozsony,  communicated  by  Mr. 
Edward  Brown  to  the  Journal  of  the  Board 
of  Agriculture  for  December,  1902.  There, 
among  other  things,  one  may  read: — 

Various  displays  made  by  the  local  or  village  societies, 
which  have  done  such  good  work  in  Hungary,  were  of 
special  interest  as  showing  what  can  be  accomplished  by 
combined  effort.  An  arrangement  is  here  worthy  of  note, 


160  HUNGARY 

namely,  that  these  societies  are  allowed  to  compete  with 
the  produce  or  stock  of  their  neighbours.  The  result  of 
this  is  that  a  selection  is  made  first  in  a  village,  and  what- 
ever benefit  accrues,  either  in  the  way  of  prizes  or  reputa- 
tion, is  shared  by  all — a  species  of  co-operation  which 
cannot  fail  to  be  of  benefit.  One  of  the  most  recent 
features  in  connection  with  the  development  of  Hungary 
has  been  the  remarkable  growth  of  combined  effort,  chiefly 
in  the  direction  of  production,  and  the  result  has  greatly 
increased  prosperity  in  the  rural  districts.  The  displays 
made  by  the  various  agricultural  colleges  and  schools  were 
very  fine,  and  I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  their  equal 
even  in  France,  where  so  much  is  done  in  this  direction. 

The  relation  of  the  State  to  agriculture  in 
Hungary  is  seen  alike  in  the  remarkable  extent 
to  which  the  Government  conducts  agricultural 
operations  on  its  own  account,  and  in  the  almost 
paternal  character  of  the  aid  it  extends  to  the 
individual  farmer.  But  however  much  one  may 
be  opposed,  as  a  matter  of  principle,  to  an  undue 
expansion  either  of  State  trading  or  of  State  aid, 
there  are  certain  considerations  in  the  case  of 
Hungary  which  it  would  be  unfair  to  that 
country  to  ignore. 

In  the  first  place  we  have  the  exceptional 
fact  that,  for  political  reasons,  and  mainly  for 
purposes  of  national  defence,  the  Hungarian 
Governments  of  bygone  days  acquired,  as  State 
property,  a  large  expanse  of  the  mountain  and 
forest  land  which  encircles  the  central  plains  of 


THE   STATE   AND   AGRICULTURE  161 

Hungary ;  and  that  later  Governments,  having 
this  land  on  their  hands,  sought  to  turn  it  to 
good  purpose  by  assuming  the  role  of  thrifty 
and  enterprising  husbandmen.  In  a  country 
where  the  agricultural  interest  is  paramount 
they  thought  to  set  some  good  examples  of 
agricultural  methods,  and  try  to  induce  the 
people  to  follow  them. 

In  the  next  place  the  intellectual  and  economic 
status  of  considerable  sections  of  the  inhabitants 
—especially  those  of  the  type  of  the  Slavs  and 
Rumanians — coupled  with  a  lack  of  initiative 
and  an  inadequate  development  of  the  trading 
spirit,  made  a  liberal  degree  of  State  guidance 
and  State  help  more  justifiable  in  Hungary  than 
would  be  the  case  to  anything  like  the  same 
extent  in  such  a  country  as  Great  Britain. 

The  combination  of  these  two  conditions  has 
helped  to  bring  about  results  that  are  certainly 
remarkable  enough  in  their  way.  In  the  first 
place  the  State  owns  3,700,000  acres  of  forests, 
the  management  of  which,  together  with  that 
of  3,000,000  acres  of  communal  forests,  and 
8,650,000  acres  belonging  to  other  corporations, 
is  entrusted  to  the  Minister  of  Agriculture.  To 
encourage  the  re-planting  of  forests  and  barren 
territories  the  State  distributed,  between  1883 
and  1901,  no  fewer  than  358,000,000  shoots 


M 


162  HUNGARY 

free  of  charge.  The  revival  of  viticulture  in 
Hungary,  after  the  phylloxera  devastations  in 
the  seventies,  was  mainly  due  to  the  action  of 
the  State,  which  encouraged  the  transformation 
of  100,000  acres  of  barren  sandy  wastes  into 
vineyards  with  American  grapes,  and  established 
2,500  acres  of  nurseries  capable  of  producing 
(eventually)  50,000,000  vine  branches  yearly, 
from  1,000,000  to  2,000,000  other  vine  stocks 
being  sold,  at  a  moderate  price,  from  the  forest 
vineyards.  In  the  department  of  horticulture 
the  State  possesses  thirty-six  nurseries,  with  an 
area  of  940  acres,  producing  every  year  7,000,000 
shoots  and  500,000  grafted  stocks ;  it  has 
planted  5,600  miles  of  highways  with  fruit  trees, 
short  courses  of  lectures  on  fruit  cultivation 
being  given  to  road  surveyors  ;  and  it  has  estab- 
lished drying  kilns,  wine-presses  and  distilleries 
to  encourage  the  growers  to  turn  to  account  the 
fruit  they  cannot  sell  fresh.  It  has  had,  for  over 
a  century,  stud  farms  for  the  breeding  of  horses 
for  army  use,  and  to  improve  farm  stock  in 
general  it  has  established  depots  where  3,000 
stallions  are  kept;  and  it  has  distributed  as 
much  as  £12,000  in  one  year  in  prizes  to  horse- 
breeding  societies.  Altogether  it  spends  about 
£125,000  a  year  in  the  interest  of  horse-breeding. 
Village  communities  will  purchase  from  the 


STATE  ENTERPRISE   AND   STATE  AID       163 

State  not  only  stallions  but  the  bulls,  rams,  and 
boars  which  it  also  breeds,  the  farmers  volun- 
tarily imposing  a  tax  on  themselves  to  pay  for 
the  cost.  From  the  cultivated  portions  of  the 
extensive  stud  farms  large  supplies  of  selected 
seeds  are  sold  to  farmers  at  a  low  price. 

For  the  encouragement  of  cattle-breeding  and 
dairy-farming,  the  State  makes  annual  grants 
amounting  to  £42,000,  and  it  has  brought  about 
the  starting  of  400  co-operative  dairies.  Sheep- 
breeding  it  has  sought  to  foster  by  importing 
pure-bred  English  rams.  There  is,  too,  a  State 
poultry  farm,  covering  sixteen  acres  of  land,  and 
the  Government  has  determined,  by  experiment, 
the  kinds  of  poultry  best  fitted  for  particular 
districts.  There  is  a  State  bee  farm,  intended 
as  a  model  for  bee-keepers  to  follow,  while  bee- 
farming  is  taught  alike  on  the  farm  and  in  the 
training  schools.  Finally,  in  the  matter  of 
sericulture,  the  State  keeps  a  silk-worm  breed- 
ing station,  provides  the  public  with  healthy 
eggs,  propagates  mulberry  trees  and  distributes 
several  million  of  them  every  year,  and  even 
buys  the  cocoons  from  the  peasants  who  have 
bred  the  silk-worms,  some  two  dozen  State 
"  cocooneries  "  being  set  up  for  this  purpose. 

In  all  this  there  is  certainly  a  suggestion  that, 
from  an  English  standpoint  at  least,  State  aid 


164  HUNGARY 

is  earried  to  an  excess  in  Hungary,  and  it  is  not 
surprising  that  one  of  a  deputation  of  Essex 
farmers  who  visited  the  country  in  1902  should 
have  written : — "  The  impression  left  on  the 
minds  of  many  of  us  was  that  the  State  ran 
everything";  while  a  second  said: — "It  is 
always  a  debateable  question  to  what  extent 
State  aid  paralyzes  individual  effort,  and  the 
purchase  and  maintenance  of  stallions  and  bulls 
for  stud  purposes  out  of  the  rates  would  strike 
most  Englishmen  as  a  practice  bordering  on 
Communism."  But,  whatever  doubts  might 
well  arise  on  these  questions,  there  is  no  reason 
to  question  the  extremely  practical  and  thorough- 
going system  of  agricultural  education  with 
which  the  Government  of  the  country  have 
further  sought  to  develop  the  welfare  of  the 
national  industry. 

Though,  too,  the  State  may  have  done  so 
much,  one  must  remember  that  to  private  initia- 
tive was  due  the  introduction  of  that  system  of 
agricultural  co-operative  credit  which,  as  I  have 
shown,  constituted  the  "backbone"  of  the  latter- 
day  revival. 


CHAPTER  X 
AUSTRIA 

IN  Austria  the  principle  of  State  aid  in  agri- 
culture  has   been   developed   to  an  extent 
that  is  altogether  abnormal,  and   without   the 
exceptional  conditions  of  the  sister  country  of 
Hungary. 

The  chief  progress  made  in  regard  to  Austrian 
agriculture  has  been  effected  since  1890,  when 
the  first  co-operative  credit  bank  of  the  Raiffeisen 
type  was  formed.  There  are  now  in  Austria 
over  2,000  institutions  of  this  kind.  Close  on 
800  came  into  existence  in  the  three  years 
between  1897  and  1900.  The  Raiffeisen  banks 
have,  in  turn,  been  followed  by  many  purchase 
societies,  co-operative  dairies,  societies  for  the 
sale  of  wheat,  fruit,  hops,  oats,  etc. ;  societies  of 
wine-growers,  societies  for  the  improvement  of 
live-stock,  and  so  on. 

But  the  whole  movement  has  been  the  out- 
come mainly  of  official  action,  supported  by 
numerous  and  liberal  subsidies.  Most  of  the 

165 


166  AUSTRIA 

Raiffeisen  societies,  especially,  are  administrative 
creations,  due  either  to  the  State  or  to  the  munici- 
palities, and  showing  little  of  that  principle  of 
self-help  to  which  British  farmers  should,  prefer- 
ably, pin  their  faith.  The  associations  in  general 
are  further  authorized  by  law  to  call  for  pecuniary 
aid  from  the  State  in  (among  other  things)  the 
export  of  agricultural  products,  the  employment 
of  persons  possessing  technical  or  expert  know- 
ledge, the  construction  of  buildings,  the  pur- 
chase of  agricultural  machinery  and  implements, 
and  in  the  event  of  general  financial  difficulties 
arising. 

It  would  seem  to  be  a  normal  state  of  things 
in  Austria  that  a  Provincial  Administration 
should  hold  meetings  to  distribute  State  funds 
among  the  various  co-operative  agricultural 
societies  in  a  particular  district.  From  both 
State  authorities  and  municipalities,  indeed,  the 
societies  get  aid  in  the  form  of  subventions,  or 
loans  either  entirely  free  of  interest  or  bearing 
a  nominal  rate  of  interest  only.  Then  the 
governors  of  provinces,  the  prefets  of  cantons, 
the  Provincial  States'  Committees,  the  Provincial 
Agricultural  Councils,  the  priests,  and  the 
teachers  in  the  elementary  schools  are  all 
required  to  enlighten  the  rural  populations  on 
the  importance  and  the  utility  of  co-operative 


BY   WAY   OF   PROTEST  167 

organization,   and   to   do   all   they   can   for  its 
extension. 

The  extreme  development  of  State  aid  has 
given  rise  to  a  certain  degree  of  dissatisfaction 
in  Austria,  and  a  further  group  of  agricultural 
co-operative  associations  has  been  created  on 
strictly  self-help  principles,  representing  a  revolt 
against  the  conditions  above  described.  The 
general  position  is  thus  lamented  by  a  writer 
in  the  issue  for  January  2nd,  1904,  of  Die 
Genossenschqft,  the  organ  of  the  independent 
party  :— 

It  was  a  terrible  economic  crisis  that,  in  1844,  led  the 
poor  flannel  weavers  of  Rochdale  to  establish  their  first 
co-operative  stores,  and  in  spite  of — or  rather,  because  of 
— the  great  distress  then  prevailing,  success  did  not  fail 
them.  For  fifty  years  was  the  model  thus  set  up  regarded 
as  a  pattern  for  others  to  follow.  But  in  our  country,  and 
in  other  countries  besides — though  not  in  England — the 
position  has  been  very  different.  Governments  and 
political  parties  are  interesting  themselves  in  the  com- 
bination movement,  and  striving  to  secure  an  influence 
over  it.  The  people,  in  their  turn,  are  willing  to  surrender 
any  practical  proof  of  self-help  for  a  mess  of  pottage 
in  the  shape  of  a  subvention  or  a  cheap  loan.  Many 
Members  of  Parliament  consider  that  they  are  conferring 
a  favour  on  their  constituents  if  they  can,  in  any  possible 
way,  get  various  subventions  for  them  from  the  national 
Budget,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  cast  the  obligations 
of  those  constituents  upon  the  country.  The  State,  they 
argue,  must  support  the  citizens,  not  the  citizens  support 


168  AUSTRIA 

the  State.  For  unreflecting  persons  that  is  the  newest  and 
the  most  cordially  welcomed  solution  of  the  social  problem, 
especially  as  it  affects  the  middle  classes ;  while  such  a 
solution  is  favoured  by  the  bureaucracy  because  it  gives 
them  a  wide-reaching  influence  over  the  people  in  general. 
True  it  is  that  the  influence  of  an  intelligent  and  en- 
lightened bureaucracy  over  the  uncultured  classes  may  be 
of  practical  service ;  but  when  brought  to  bear  on  people 
of  a  higher  social  scale  it  is  likely  to  lead  to  positive  harm, 
by  favouring  indolence  and  undermining  confidence  in 
their  own  powers. 

As  against  arguments  such  as  these  it  is 
pleaded  that  the  aforesaid  administrative  crea- 
tions are  established  on  a  sure  basis  from  the 
start,  and  have  their  finances  secured,  so  that 
the  societies  have  a  better  chance  of  success  than 
if  they  were  founded  by  individuals  who  lacked 
experience,  and  were  guided  only  by  their  own 
elementary  ideas  as  to  the  lines  on  which  an 
organization  should  be  conducted. 

In  the  Trentino  district  (where  the  people  are 
essentially  Italian  in  language  and  habits)  agri- 
cultural organization  has  made  especially  rapid 
progress,  as  the  result  not  alone  of  the  helping 
hand  of  the  Austrian  Government,  but  of  what 
the  statistical  report  of  the  Italian  National  Co- 
operative League  describes  as  "the  admirable 
work  in  the  way  of  active  propaganda  and  wise 
organization  carried  out  by  the  Catholic  party,  a 


TRENTINO  169 

work,"  it  adds,  "  that  is  well  deserving  of  emula- 
tion "  (degno  invero  di  essere  emulato).  There 
are  in  the  district  about  400,000  inhabitants, 
mostly  occupied  with  vine  culture,  and  the  first 
Raiffeisen  Bank  was  established  among  them  in 
1891.  "  The  wretched  condition,  socially  and 
morally,  of  the  population,"  says  Pio  Meyer  in 
//  Movimento  nel  Trentino,  "  was  the  first  factor 
that  led  to  the  organization  of  agricultural  asso- 
ciations ;  the  second  was  the  Christian  love  felt 
towards  his  neighbour  by  the  priest,  Lorenzo 
Guetti."  The  associations  formed  by  this  pioneer 
became  known  as  "  co-operative  families  "  (fam- 
iglie  cooperative).  By  the  end  of  1902  there 
were  in  the  district  131  Raiffeisen  banks  with 
10,000  members,  together  with  numerous  agri- 
cultural co-operative  associations  of  various  kinds. 
In  this  same  year  the  different  bodies  formed 
a  "  Federation  of  Rural  Banks  and  Co-operative 
Associations." 


CHAPTER  XI 
SWITZERLAND 

r  I  ^HERE   are   some  points  in  the  story  of 
-L     agricultural    organization    in    Switzerland 
which  render  that  country  deserving  of  attention 
both  as  an  example  and  a  warning. 

A  considerable  expansion  in  the  industries  of 
Switzerland  between  1870  and  1880  led  to  a 
steady  flow  of  population  from  the  country 
districts  to  the  towns,  the  proportions  of  the 
numbers  employed  in  agricultural  and  industrial 
pursuits  respectively  undergoing  great  changes 
in  some  of  the  leading  cantons.  The  farmers 
found  that  under  these  circumstances  their 
interests  were  being  seriously  prejudiced  by  the 
shortage  of  labour ;  but  with  the  lesser  profits 
they  were  making,  because  of  the  rapidly  develop- 
ing competition  of  other  and  newer  countries, 
they  could  not  afford  to  pay  their  workers  the 
same  rates  of  wages  as  the  manufacturers  in 
the  towns  were  able  to  give.  The  conclusion 
arrived  at,  therefore,  was  that  the  agriculturists  of 

170 


ALTERED   CONDITIONS  171 

Switzerland  would  have  to  change  their  methods, 
from  the  point  of  view  both  of  resorting  more  to 
machinery,  in  order  to  solve  the  labour  problem, 
and  of  using  chemical  fertilizers  in  order  to  in- 
crease the  volume,  and  decrease  the  relative  cost, 
of  production,  so  as  to  compete  better  with  the 
foreigner.  In  other  words,  the  farmer  was  to 
employ  fewer  hands  but  spend  more  money. 

The  drawback  to  this  plan  was  the  average 
cultivator's  lack  of  capital — a  difficulty  only  to 
be  overcome  by  the  creation  of  organizations 
which  would  enable  the  farmers  alike  to  borrow 
on  advantageous  terms,  and  to  effect  the  neces- 
sary purchases  under  the  best  conditions.  The 
establishment  of  organizations  of  this  type  was, 
in  fact,  for  the  Swiss  farmers,  as  Dr.  Hans 
M  tiller  relates  in  Die  Schweizerischen  Konsum- 
genossenschaften :  Hire  Entwicklung  und  ihre 
Resultate,  a  matter  of  life  or  death.  But,  Dr. 
Mliller  goes  on  to  say : — 

It  took  a  long  time  for  the  peasant  to  work  himself  up 
to  this  conviction.  An  incarnate  individualist,  he  resisted 
any  idea  of  actually  resorting  to  combined  trading  or 
co-operative  effort,  even  when  already  convinced  of  the 
necessity  of  so  doing.  Finally,  however,  he  saw  it  had 
become  for  him  a  question  either  of  combination  or  of 
ruin ;  either  of  rising  to  a  true  sense  of  his  position,  and 
showing  confidence  in  his  neighbour,  or  of  dropping  out  of 
existence.  When  once  this  alternative  presented  itself 


172  SWITZERLAND 

mercilessly  to  the  Swiss  peasant,  he,  with  good  spirit,  and 
a  lighter  heart,  and  with,  also,  a  skill  at  which  one  cannot 
fail  to  wonder,  applied  himself  to  the  development  of  a 
great  system  of  organized  action. 

The  actual  pioneer  of  the  movement  was  a 
certain  landowner  in  Raterschen  (Canton  Zurich), 
who  had  purchased  wholesale  a  large  supply  of 
chemical  manures  on  such  lower  terms  than  his 
neighbours  were  paying  that  they  formed  an 
agricultural  association,  in  1874,  in  order  to 
secure  similar  advantages  for  themselves.  Their 
example  was  followed  in  other  localities,  and  in 
1877,  at  a  general  assembly  of  members  of 
agricultural  societies  in  Zurich,  Professor  Dr.  A. 
Kramer  strongly  recommended  a  general  resort 
to  organization  for  combined  purchase  of  agricul- 
tural necessaries,  in  the  interest  both  of  economy 
and  of  quality.  Even,  however,  when  local 
combinations  had  been  formed,  the  prejudices 
of  the  farmers  made  them  reluctant  to  group 
their  orders  with  those  of  farmers  in  other 
districts,  and  it  was  only  in  May,  1881,  by  the 
active  exertions  of  a  young  parish  priest  at 
Elsau,  in  Dynhard,  that  the  first  approach  to  a 
district  federation  of  local  organizations  was 
effected.  From  that  time  the  general  move- 
ment spread  with  great  activity,  and  in  1887 
there  followed  the  formation,  at  Winterthur,  of 


A   DEB  ATE  ABLE   POINT  173 

a  "  Union  of  the  Agricultural  Associations  of 
Eastern  Switzerland." 

Meanwhile  the  question  had  arisen  whether 
the  local  organizations  created  with  the  primary 
object  of  supplying  agricultural  necessaries  should 
not,  also,  furnish  household  requirements,  after 
the  fashion  of  ordinary  co-operative  stores. 

The  same  point  has  been  discussed  in  France 
and  elsewhere,  but,  generally  speaking,  the  more 
prudent  advocates  of  agricultural  combination 
have  been  averse  to  the  mixing  up  of  business 
and  domestic  considerations,  and  have  advocated 
that  the  co-operative  purchase  of  fertilizers  and 
implements  for  the  fields  should  be  kept  distinct 
from  the  co-operative  purchase  of  coffee  and 
sugar  for  the  household.  In  Switzerland,  how- 
ever, different  views  prevailed,  and  not  only  did 
some  of  the  local  agricultural  associations  take 
up  both  branches,  but  the  Union  formed  at 
Winterthur  in  1887,  as  mentioned  above,  organ- 
ized two  departments,  one  for  agricultural  and 
the  other  for  domestic  purchasers. 

The  adoption  of  this  principle  led  to  a  con- 
troversy which  undoubtedly  retarded  the  progress 
of  the  movement  from  a  purely  agricultural 
standpoint,  and  roused  against  it  the  whole  body 
of  general  traders.  While  accepting  the  claim  of 
the  peasants  that  they  were  entitled  to  conduct 


174  SWITZERLAND 

their  own  enterprises  on  their  own  lines,  they 
resented  any  invasion  by  them  of  the  grocery, 
drapery,  and  other  businesses.  The  associations 
thus  found  themselves  boycotted  for  a  time,  and 
they  only  surmounted  their  difficulties  by  im- 
porting supplies  from  other  countries,  or,  in  the 
case  of  fertilizers,  by  starting  mills  of  their  own. 

Then  some  of  the  leaders  in  Switzerland  of 
what,  at  the  outset,  was  a  purely  agricultural 
movement,  have,  in  the  ardour  of  their  zeal  for 
the  progress  of  mankind,  utilized  it  unduly  as  a 
means  of  securing  "  social  reform  "  in  general ; 
while  the  rank  and  file,  in  their  turn,  have  not 
yet  entirely  abandoned  old  prejudices,  and  pre- 
fer to  maintain  sectional  distinctions  rather  than 
sink  their  differences,  and  join  together  on  a 
common  platform  for  the  achievement  of  a 
common  purpose. 

So  it  is,  therefore,  that  although  other  federa- 
tions (including  one  at  Berne,  which  is  doing 
good  work  in  the  way  of  grouping  purchases) 
have  followed  the  one  established  at  Winterthur, 
and  although  agricultural  associations  have  now 
been  spread  more  or  less  throughout  the  country 
(in  the  form,  not  alone  of  purchase  societies,  but 
also  of  co-operative  dairies,  live-stock  improve- 
ment associations,  Raiffeisen  banks,  combina- 
tions for  the  collective  sale  of  produce,  and  so 


RETARDED  PROGRESS  175 

on),  the  movement  has  not,  as  a  whole,  shown 
the  same  degree  of  vigour,  and  secured  the  same 
degree  of  progress,  in  Switzerland  as  in  some  of 
the  other  countries  with  which  I  have  already 
dealt. 


CHAPTER  XII 
SWEDEN    AND    NORWAY 

THE  development  of  agricultural  interests 
in  Sweden  has  followed  the  same  general 
lines,  especially  in  regard  to  co-operative  effort, 
as  in  Denmark.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  example  of 
Denmark  that  inspired  the  action  of  the  Swedish 
agriculturists,  for  the  double  reason  that  they 
wanted  to  meet  effectually  the  threatened  com- 
petition of  their  neighbours,  and  that  they  fur- 
ther hoped  to  get  a  share  in  the  important  trade 
in  dairy  products  which  those  neighbours  were 
opening  up  with  Great  Britain. 

Between  the  two  countries,  however,  there  are 
some  material  differences.  Whereas  Denmark 
is  a  land  that  is  almost  exclusively  agricultural, 
Sweden,  in  addition  to  her  agriculture,  has  very 
large  iron,  iron  ore,  and  other  industries,  which 
absorb  an  increasing  proportion  of  the  popula- 
tion, so  that  whereas  in  1870  the  number  of 
those  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  stood  at 
71*87  per  cent.,  it  is  to-day  only  55*32  per  cent. 

176 


A   COMPARISON   WITH   DENMARK  177 

Then,  again,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  large 
towns,  and  especially  Stockholm,  it  is  found 
more  profitable  to-day  to  sell  milk  and  cream 
to  householders  than  use  it  for  butter-making. 

These  various  changes  in  the  economic  position 
have  affected  alike  production  and  home  con- 
sumption, leaving  a  smaller  relative  proportion 
of  food  products  available  for  export.  The  fact, 
also,  that  Sweden  imposes  duties  on  imported 
feeding-stuffs  (thus  increasing  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction), while  Denmark  admits  them  free,  has 
undoubtedly  told  against  agriculture  in  the 
former  country,  as  compared  with  the  latter.  In 
1895,  for  example,  prior  to  the  imposition  of 
a  duty  on  maize,  Sweden  exported  22,000,000 
Ibs.  of  bacon.  In  1901  the  total  was  only 
2,200,000  Ibs.,  a  falling  off  which  cannot  be 
adequately  accounted  for  by  the  greater  local 
demand,  especially  as  the  industrial  workers  in 
the  northern  districts  prefer  American  bacon  to 
Swedish. 

In  all  these  circumstances  it  is  assumed  that 
Sweden  will  not  be  likely  to  send  to  Great 
Britain  larger  quantities  of  food  supplies  than 
she  is  doing  already.  All  the  same  the  Swedish 
agriculturists  benefit  to  the  extent  of  close  on 
£1,000,000  a  year  from  the  trade  they  do  with 
Great  Britain  in  the  one  item  of  butter  alone, 


178  SWEDEN  AND   NORWAY 

and,  with  a  good  market  in  their  own  country, 
they  have,  altogether,  done  well,  even  though 
the  results  of  their  operations  may  not  be  so 
remarkable  as  in  the  case  of  Denmark. 

The  causes  which  have  led  to  these  results 
could  not  be  summarized  more  succinctly  than 
is  done  in  a  Report  on  the  Dairy  Industry  in 
Sweden,  drawn  up  in  1897  by  Mr.  Arthur  Her- 
bert, First  Secretary  to  the  British  Legation 
in  Sweden,  who  wrote : — 

Foreign  butter  wins  its  way  because  it  is  generally 
of  good  and  uniform  quality — at  least,  that  is  the  case 
with  the  Swedish  butter,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
methods  of  production  are  always  reaching  a  higher  degree 
of  perfection.  Cheapness  is  brought  about,  not  because 
the  value  of  land  is  less  in  Sweden  than  in  Great  Britain, 
or  because  the  climate  is  better,  or  because  the  other 
expenses  of  an  agriculturist's  business  compare  favourably 
with  our  own.  The  reason  must  be  sought  in  their  co- 
operative methods  of  manufacture,  which  effect  very  great 
economies,  and  it  is  here  that  the  British  agriculturist 
who  does  not  understand  how  profit  can  be  made  out  of 
Swedish  butter  at  the  price  it  is  sold  must  look  for  the 
explanation,  coupled  with  the  fact  of  the  thoroughness  of 
the  agricultural  technical  education  in  this  country. 

How  the  co-operative  movement  has  spread 
in  Sweden  can  be  shown  by  the  fact  that 
whereas  there  were  in  1890  only  73  co-operative 
dairies  in  the  country,  this  number  increased 
to  302  in  1895,  and  stands  to-day  at  430.  Nor 


THE  SPREAD   OF   CO-OPERATION  179 

does  even  this  highest  figure  tell  the  complete 
story,  for  the  tendency  is  for  the  small  dairies  to 
be  absorbed  by  the  larger  ones,  and  so  disappear 
from  the  list  altogether.  A  similar  fate  is  over- 
taking many  of  the  "  proprietary "  dairies. 
While,  again,  the  430  co-operative  dairies  repre- 
sent only  26  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of 
dairies,  they  produce  50  per  cent,  of  the  total 
output  of  butter  in  the  country. 

Co-operation  has  further  been  adopted  in 
Sweden  in  the  formation  of  "  control "  associa- 
tions, societies  for  the  purchase  of  agricultural 
necessaries,  societies  for  securing  the  improve- 
ment of  stock,  societies  for  the  collection  and 
sale  of  eggs,  and  the  various  other  combinations 
in  vogue  in  Denmark,  the  Swedish  farmers 
being  no  less  ready  than  the  Danish  to  join 
together  for  the  purpose  of  securing  common 
benefits,  whether  in  the  way  of  reducing  cost 
of  production  or  of  obtaining  the  best  possible 
return  for  the  commodity  produced. 

In  addition  to  the  purely  co-operative  or- 
ganizations there  are  in  Sweden  a  number  of 
agricultural  societies  which,  among  other  things, 
hold  fortnightly  butter  shows  at  Gothenburg  or 
Malmo,  such  shows  being  subsidized  by  the  State 
to  the  extent  of  about  £1,100  a  year.  The 
dairies  each  send  in  four  or  five  casks  a  year, 


i8o  SWEDEN  AND   NORWAY 

representing  the  different  seasons,  and  the 
samples  are  analyzed  with  a  view  to  keeping  up 
the  quality,  awards  being  made  to  the  dairies 
showing  the  best  results.  It  is  a  significant  fact 
that  whereas  at  one  time  the  private  or  "  estate  " 
dairies  had  the  reputation  of  supplying  the  finest 
quality  of  butter,  it  is  the  co-operative  dairies 
which  now  secure  most  of  the  prizes  at  the 
periodical  exhibitions.  The  agricultural  societies 
also  import  stock  for  breeding  purposes,  either 
selling  the  animals  by  auction  to  the  farmers,  or 
setting  up  breeding  stations  in  various  districts ; 
and  they  will,  likewise,  advance  loans  for  the 
starting  of  co-operative  societies  or  to  otherwise 
assist  agricultural  enterprises. 

Of  the  thoroughness  of  the  system  of  agricul- 
tural education  in  Sweden  there  is  no  possible 
room  for  doubt.  To  begin  with,  there  is  a  State 
Agricultural  and  Dairy  College  at  Alnarp,  near 
Lund,  which  includes  the  following  divisions  or 
colleges : — (1)  A  higher  agricultural  college ; 
(2)  A  lower  agricultural  school;  (3)  A  higher 
dairy  college  ;  (4)  A  lower  dairy  school  for  men  ; 
(5)  A  lower  school  for  dairymaids ;  (6)  A  gar- 
dening college ;  and  (7)  A  farriery  school ;  the 
course  of  instruction  in  each  instance  being  both 
theoretical  and  practical.  Then  there  is  a  Royal 
Agricultural  College  at  Ultuna,  near  Upsala,  the 


AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION  181 

object  of  which  is  to  afford  higher  theoretical 
instruction  in  agriculture  (not  dairy  subjects)  to 
young  men.  In  addition  to  these  high  colleges 
there  are  in  Sweden  eighteen  theoretical  and 
twenty-four  practical  agricultural  schools,  to  the 
support  of  which  the  State  contributes.  Then 
the  list  of  State  officials  includes  an  instructor  in 
cattle-breeding,  another  in  sheep-breeding,  and 
still  another  in  dairying,  together  with  twenty- 
five  instructors  in  general  agricultural  matters, 
with  special  reference  to  drainage,  manures,  and 
the  cultivation  of  the  land  ;  while  the  provincial 
agricultural  societies  employ  about  twenty-four 
travelling  dairy  instructors  who  deliver  lectures 
or  give  practical  advice  to  the  farmers  and  dairy 
workers,  together  with  travelling  experts  in 
agricultural  machinery  and  appliances,  who  are 
equally  ready  to  advise  in  case  of  need.  There 
are,  also,  a  number  of  "dairy  stations"  which 
have  been  set  up  by  private  persons,  with  the 
help  of  grants  from  the  State,  where  dairymaids 
can  get  instruction  without  going  to  the  more 
pretentious  colleges. 

With  the  opportunities  which  have  thus  been 
opened  out  to  him,  the  Swedish  farmer  of  to-day 
is  found  to  have  a  much  more  complete  grasp  of 
the  science  of  agriculture  than  was  formerly  the 
case ;  and  when  to  this  happy  admixture  of 


182  SWEDEN   AND   NORWAY 

scientific  knowledge  with  his  practical  experience 
he  adds  a  willingness  to  resort  to  friendly  co- 
operation with  his  fellows  for  any  or  every 
possible  purpose  that  tends  to  their  mutual 
advantage,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  should 
have  succeeded  so  well  in  holding  his  own  in 
the  way  he  has  done. 

In  Sweden's  sister  country,  Norway,  there  are 
650  creameries,  and  their  production  of  butter 
and  cheese  in  1901  amounted  to  7,716,000  Ib. 
and  9,123,000  Ib.  respectively,  the  quantity  of 
milk  employed  daily  being  about  220,000  gallons. 
Nearly  all  the  creameries  are  co-operative. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
FINLAND 

TO  the  average  British  agriculturist  Finland 
— if  he  ever  thinks  of  that  country  at 
all  —  probably  represents  little  more  than  a 
geographical  expression,  and,  so  far  as  he  is 
concerned,  a  wholly  negligible  quantity. 

At  first  sight  there  would  seem  to  be  no 
reason  why  he  should  regard  it  from  any  other 
point  of  view.  It  is  true  that  in  superficial  area 
Finland  is  as  large  as  England,  Wales,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland  put  together.  But  a  considerable 
proportion  of  this  area  extends  into  the  Arctic 
Circle,  12  per  cent,  of  it  is  represented  by  lakes, 
and  15  per  cent,  by  marshes  and  bogs,  while 
of  Finland's  terra  fir  ma  three-fifths  consist  of 
forests.  In  fact,  up  to  three  or  four  years  ago 
only  8  per  cent,  of  the  surface  of  the  country 
was  under  cultivation.  Then  the  entire  popula- 
tion of  Finland  represents  an  average  of  only 
about  twenty-two  persons  to  the  square  mile. 

Living  in  such  a  land  as  this,  and  so  remote 
183 


184  FINLAND 

from  the  centres  of  civilization,  there  might  well 
seem  to  be  little  chance  for  such  a  community 
to  establish  a  position  for  themselves  as  pro- 
viders of  food  supplies  for  the  people  of  Great 
Britain,  and,  also,  to  merit  the  attention  of  the 
world  in  general  by  the  development  among 
themselves  of  a  scheme  of  agricultural  combina- 
tion under  conditions  altogether  unique  in  their 
way.  Yet  the  Finlanders  have  done  both  of 
these  things,  and  in  doing  them  they  have  found 
a  successful  outcome  from  a  condition  of  agri- 
cultural depression  which  at  one  time  was  quite 
as  serious  for  them  as  anything  in  this  direction 
that  has  been  experienced  in  England. 

Finland  remained  unaffected  by  the  changes 
brought  about  in  various  other  countries  of 
Europe  by  the  competition  of  foreign  wheat, 
for  Finland  does  not  grow  wheat.  But  she 
can  grow  the  rye  which  forms  a  staple  article 
of  food  for  her  people,  and  of  this  she  grew  a 
great  deal  up  to  about  1880.  Then  her  agricul- 
turists began  to  suffer  from  the  abundant  sup- 
plies of  rye  coming  to  hand  from  Russia,  such 
supplies  being  eventually  sold  in  Finland  at  a 
price  that  represented  one-half  the  sum  at  which 
alone  the  Finnish  crops  could  be  produced  at  a 
profit.  There  was  no  question  here  of  putting 
a  hostile  tariff  on  the  Russian  rye,  since  Russia 


MEETING  A  CRISIS  185 

would  naturally  not  have  consented,  and  at  first 
it  looked  to  the  Finnish  farmers  as  if  ruin  stared 
them  in  the  face. 

But  they  were  men  of  resource,  and  they 
determined  that  if  they  could  not  get  a  living 
in  one  direction  they  would  in  another.  They 
saw  that  Denmark  was  opening  up  an  important 
trade  with  great  Britain  in  regard  to  dairy  pro- 
ducts, and  from  their  point  of  view  there  was 
no  reason  why  they  should  not  do  the  same. 
So  they  resolved  not  to  attempt  to  struggle 
against  Russian  competition,  but  to  abandon  the 
growing  of  rye  for  themselves,  and  turn  their 
attention,  rather,  to  the  feeding  of  cattle  and 
the  creation  of  an  export  trade  in  butter. 

In  order  to  carry  out  this  programme  the 
more  effectually,  some  of  the  most  capable  of 
the  Finnish  farmers  went  to  Denmark  to  make 
an  exhaustive  study  of  Danish  methods,  and  a 
number  of  Danes  were  engaged  to  go  to  Finland 
and  organize  creameries  there  on  the  model  of 
those  existing  in  their  own  country.  At  first 
the  creameries  so  established  were  mainly  pro- 
prietary ones ;  but  the  pecuniary  advantages  of 
combination  soon  began  to  be  realized,  and  at 
the  present  moment  the  proprietary  dairies  in 
Finland  are  outnumbered  by  the  co-operative. 
Then  to  assist  the  farmers  in  opening  up  a 


i86  FINLAND 

market  for  their  produce,  the  Government  of 
Finland  made  a  contract  in  1886  with  the 
Finnish  Steam  Navigation  Company  for  the 
establishment  of  regular  and  direct  steamship 
communication  between  Hango  and  Hull,  this 
arrangement  being  succeeded,  in  November, 
1902,  by  a  fresh  arrangement  under  which  the 
Government  granted  a  loan  of  £72,000  for  ten 
years,  without  interest,  to  a  new  company,  the 
Nord,  for  the  running  of  weekly  boats  from 
Hango  to  Newcastle-on-Tyne.  In  addition  to 
this,  the  Finnish  Government,  with  a  view  to 
improving  the  breed  of  cattle  in  the  country, 
make  loans  for  ten  years,  without  interest,  to 
farmers  who  desire  to  import  Ayrshire  cattle, 
which  are  found  much  more  suited  to  climatic 
conditions  in  Finland  than  the  less  hardy  Danish 
stock.  But  the  farmers  accepting  the  loans  have 
to  make  their  purchases  through  the  Govern- 
ment "  cattle  consultant,"  who  comes  to  this 
country  every  year  to  select  the  animals  to  be 
bought,  the  number  so  purchased  generally 
being  from  100  to  150.  This  system  has  been  in 
vogue  for  the  last  eight  years  or  so. 

As  the  outcome  of  these  various  conditions 
Finland  sent  to  this  country  in  1897  no  fewer 
than  14,561  tons  of  butter.  Since  then  there 
has  been  a  succession  of  unfavourable  seasons 


TRADE  WITH   BRITAIN  187 

in  Finland,  leading,  at  times,  to  an  almost  com- 
plete failure  of  crops  in  the  central  parts  of  the 
country.  Consequently  the  supplies  have  fallen 
off  of  late  years,  and  in  1902  the  exports  of 
butter  from  Finland  stood  at  9,670  tons — a 
distinct  decrease  as  compared  with  1897,  but  a 
business  of  respectable  proportions,  all  the  same, 
for  a  small  country,  inasmuch  as  it  represented 
a  value  of  £944,000.  At  the  present  time  two- 
thirds  of  the  Finnish  butter  imported  reaches 
England  via  Hull,  and  one-third  via  Newcastle- 
on-Tyne,  nearly  the  whole  of  it  being  consumed 
in  the  North  of  England  or  the  Midlands. 

The  most  interesting  phase  of  the  agricultural 
revival  in  Finland  typified  by  this  substantial 
trade  in  dairy  produce  is  to  be  found  in  the 
very  active  development  of  agricultural  com- 
bination brought  about  during  the  last  few 
years  in  circumstances  which,  as  mentioned 
above,  are  altogether  unique  in  their  way. 

In  1895  a  course  of  lectures  on  the  need  of 
co-operative  effort  in  regard  to  agriculture  in 
Finland  was  given  by  Dr.  Hannes  Gebhard, 
Professor  of  Agricultural  Economics  at  Helsing- 
fors  University,  and  these  lectures  were  attended 
by  people  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  Sub- 
sequently some  landed  proprietors  made  a  tour 
of  investigation  in  different  countries  to  ascer- 


i88  FINLAND 

tain  for  themselves  what  was  being  done  there 
in  the  direction  in  question,  and  on  their  return 
they  started  a  small  agricultural  society  at 
Helsingfors.  Then  in  1899  Dr.  Gebhard  pub- 
lished a  book  in  which  he  gave  details  respect- 
ing the  growth  and  development  of  agricultural 
co-operation  in  France,  Germany,  Denmark, 
and  elsewhere. 

Up  to  this  time  the  movement  had  been  of 
a  comparatively  feeble  character  ;  but  it  was 
suddenly  taken  up  with  great  vigour  as  a  re- 
sponse and  set-off  to  the  policy  of  Russia 
towards  Finland,  and  it  so  happened,  curiously 
enough,  that  the  persons  who,  in  the  first 
instance,  showed  the  most  zeal  in  the  matter 
were  not  the  agriculturists,  the  socialists,  or  the 
clericals,  but  the  students  in  attendance  at 
Helsingfors  University.  Whatever  the  particu- 
lar studies  on  which  they  had  entered,  they 
flocked  to  the  lectures  on  agricultural  subjects, 
they  eagerly  read  whatever  was  available  there- 
on, especially  with  regard  to  agricultural  co- 
operation ;  and  when  they  returned  to  their 
homes,  whether  at  the  close  of  their  University 
career  or  only  in  the  holidays,  they  did  so  as 
active  propagandists  of  the  agricultural  co-opera- 
tion movement.  Their  own  particular  motive 
was  one  of  patriotism  pure  and  simple.  They 


FOSTERING   COMBINATION  189 

saw  the  Russification  of  their  once  independent 
land  proceeding  with  relentless  vigour ;  they 
saw  a  country  naturally  poor  in  danger  of  being 
crippled  by  an  expanding  military  budget ;  they 
saw  it  suffering  from  severe  depression,  the 
result  of  frosts,  inundations,  crop  failures,  and 
other  causes ;  and  in  their  youthful  ardour  they 
concluded  that  the  best  service  they  could 
render  to  the  land  they  loved  would  be  to  help 
in  the  development  of  its  natural  resources, 
creating,  at  the  same  time,  a  closer  bond  of 
union  among  the  people  themselves.  While, 
therefore,  in  Russia  political  and  economic  con- 
ditions had  done  so  much  to  foster  Nihilism  and 
conspiracies  in  general,  in  Finland  the  same 
causes  had  converted  the  youth  of  the  country 
into  the  most  practical  of  patriots. 

So  the  students  hastened  to  impart  enthusi- 
astically to  others  all  the  ideas  they  had  them- 
selves imbibed  as  to  the  advancement  of  agri- 
culture, and  they  were  soon  joined  by  members 
of  the  agricultural  community  whose  attain- 
ments or  whose  views  were  in  advance  of  those 
of  people  round  about  them.  The  whole  sub- 
ject, too,  was  discussed  in  newspapers,  periodi- 
cals, books,  and  pamphlets,  and  in  these  various 
ways  interest  in  it  was  rapidly  spread  through- 
out the  land. 


IQO  FINLAND 

Then  followed,  in  the  autumn  of  1899,  the 
definite  formation  of  a  Society  for  Promoting 
the  Application  of  Co-operation  to  Agriculture 
in  Finland.  Of  this  society,  known  as  "Pellervo," 
Dr.  Hannes  Gebhard  was  chosen  as  president. 
It  aimed  at  becoming  a  central  organization 
which  would  encourage  the  formation  of  local 
bodies  ;  publish  literature  in  the  special  interests 
of  the  peasants ;  promote  the  starting  of  co- 
operative dairies,  rural  credit  banks,  purchase 
societies,  etc. ;  provide  model  rules  and  regula- 
tions for  such  bodies ;  send  out  lecturers,  in- 
structors, and  organizers  all  over  Finland ;  inquire 
into  the  best  means  to  be  adopted  for  increasing 
the  sale  of  Finnish  dairy  products  abroad  ;  and 
otherwise  seek  to  develop  the  agricultural  in- 
terests of  the  country.  These  were  the  lines  on 
which  operations  were  begun,  the  Government 
showing  its  sympathy  with  the  movement  by 
making  a  grant -in -aid  of  £800  a  year  for  a 
period  of  five  years. 

At  the  time  the  Pellervo  was  started  there 
were  already  in  existence  in  Finland  seventy- 
four  non-co-operative  agricultural  organizations 
corresponding  to  the  "Syndicats  Agricoles"  in 
France,  or  the  "  Bauernvereine "  in  Germany. 
Within  the  first  nine  months  of  the  formation 
of  the  Pellervo  no  fewer  that  150  more  of 


PELLERVO— ITS  AIMS   AND   WORK          191 

these  local  societies  were  established,  and  on 
December  1st,  1903,  the  total  number  stood  at 
341,  the  membership  being  over  20,000. 

The  creation  of  purely  co-operative  bodies  for 
agricultural  purposes  was  only  rendered  possible, 
in  September,  1901,  by  the  passing  of  a  law 
giving  them  legal  status,  and  it  was  with  the 
making  of  this  law  that  the  real  activity  of  the 
Pellervo  commenced.  Before  the  year  closed 
there  had  been  established  in  connection  with 
the  Pellervo  a  Central  Co-operative  Commercial 
Bureau  for  the  collective  purchase  of  manures, 
feeding-stuffs,  seed,  grain,  salt,  machines,  petro- 
leum, dairy  requirements,  etc.,  for  agricultural 
societies  grouping  the  orders  of  their  individual 
members.  It  is  especially  interesting  to  know 
that  the  example  set  by  this  Central  Bureau 
inspired  the  farmers  of  Northern  Finland  and 
Lapland  to  arrange  for  a  similar  organization 
on  their  own  account,  so  that  a  wholesale  society 
for  the  purchase  of  agricultural  necessaries  has 
been  started  in  the  little  town  of  Kemi,  which 
is  within  the  Arctic  Circle. 

It  was  felt,  however,  from  the  outset,  that 
no  great  progress  would  be  made  until  there 
had  been  set  up  a  Central  Co-operative  Bank 
which  would  be  able  to  give  practical  assistance 
in  the  formation  throughout  Finland  of  local 


111      bU\ 


i92  FINLAND 

agricultural  credit  banks  of  the  Raiffeisen  type. 
The  organization  of  this  Central  Bank  was  a 
remarkable  event  in  its  way.  The  capital  it  was 
proposed  to  raise  was  fixed  at  £12,000,  in  shares 
of  £4  each,  to  be  subscribed  for  by  the  agri- 
culturists themselves.  The  country  was  then 
suffering  from  severe  depression,  but  the  sum 
required  was  raised  in  six  weeks  by  1,360  in- 
dividuals, of  whom  83  per  cent,  bought  only 
either  one  or  two  shares  each,  and  11  per  cent, 
from  three  to  five  shares  each.  Many  of  the 
peasants  had  great  difficulty  in  raising  the  sum 
necessary  for  the  purchase  of  even  one  share ; 
but  they  made  a  great  effort,  being  strongly 
impressed  with  the  good  work  the  proposed 
Central  Bank  might  do,  and  applications  for 
single  shares  came  in  from  every  part  of  the 
country.  The  Central  Co-operative  Bank  of 
Finland  is,  under  these  circumstances,  regarded 
by  the  promoters  as  "  the  most  democratic  in- 
stitution of  the  kind  in  the  world."  It  seems, 
at  least,  to  have  been  the  most  effective  means 
of  promoting  agriculture  yet  adopted  in  Finland. 
The  loans  granted  by  the  Central  Bank  are 
advanced  exclusively  to  local  agricultural  banks, 
and,  thanks  to  its  aid  (and,  also,  to  the  improve- 
ment in  its  finances  brought  about  by  an  annual 
subvention  of  £800  a  year  granted  to  it  by  the 


[GOROUS   MOVEMENT  193 

State  in  June,  1903),  agricultural  credit  banks 
are  now  in  course  of  formation  in  all  parts  of 
Finland,  the  total  number  at  the  beginning  of 
December,  1903,  being  fifty-one. 

With  the  improved  financial  resources  thus 
opened  up  to  the  agricultural  community,  a  great 
impetus  has  been  given  to  the  formation  of  the 
agricultural  co-operative  organizations  sanctioned 
by  the  law  of  September,  1901.  Already  there 
are  175  registered  societies  of  this  type  (among 
them  being  seventy-two  for  the  working  of 
co-operative  dairies)  besides  a  number  of  non- 
registered  bodies.  The  total  of  registered  and 
non -registered  is  estimated  at  300.  As  indicat- 
ing the  amount  of  actual  business  done  by  the 
various  kinds  of  organizations,  it  may  be  added 
that  the  sum  total  of  the  "  grouped  orders  "  for 
1902  was  £100,000,  those  of  the  Central  Co- 
operative Bureau  alone  amounting  to  £60,000. 
Such  figures  speak  well  for  the  vigour  of  a 
movement  still  in  its  infancy  in  a  land  of  only 
2,700,000  inhabitants. 

The  degree  of  interest  that  is  being  aroused 
in  the  whole  subject  is  further  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  a  three  days'  conference  on  agricul- 
tural organization,  held  in  the  University  of 
Helsingfors  in  April,  1902,  was  attended  by  800 
delegates — teachers  in  agricultural  schools,  agri- 


I94  FINLAND 

cultural  instructors,  ordinary  peasants,  and 
others — from  all  parts  of  Finland,  Lapland 
included.  But  such  interest  is  less  surprising 
in  view  of  the  amount  of  zeal  and  energy  that 
the  Pellervo  society  is  throwing  into  its  work. 
It  publishes  manuals  on  agricultural  subjects, 
a  monthly  agricultural  review  which  has  27,000 
subscribers,  and  a  Year  Book,  which  is  a  bulky 
volume  of  over  600  pages  ;  it  issues  model  rules 
and  regulations,  forms,  etc.,  for  the  use  of 
co-operative  societies ;  it  has  six  organizers 
whose  business  it  is  to  go  about  the  country 
explaining  to  the  farmers  the  principles  of  the 
movement,  and  instructing  the  officers  of  agri- 
cultural societies  in  regard  to  technical  and 
commercial  details ;  it  holds,  with  the  help  of 
these  organizers,  as  many  as  300  conferences 
a  year ;  and  it  has,  in  the  central  office  in 
Helsingfors,  a  secretarial  staff  the  members  of 
which,  among  other  duties,  give  advice  to  local 
societies,  and  carry  on  an  ever-increasing  corre- 
spondence, the  letters  dealt  with  by  them 
between  January  1st  and  December  1st,  1903, 
representing  a  total  of  4,000.  The  original 
subsidy  of  the  Pellervo  of  £800  a  year  from  the 
Government  has  been  supplemented  by  a  further 
grant  of  £240  to  provide  a  salary  for  a  special 
instructor  in  the  management  and  working  of 


ACCOMPLISHED    RESULTS  195 

co-operative  dairies,  and  to  allow  of  the  prepara- 
tion and  publication  by  the  Society  of  detailed 
statistics  respecting  the  dairy  industry.  The 
Pellervo  has  also  received  about  .£1,200  in 
donations. 

The  results  already  obtained  with  such  modest 
finances  are  distinctly  good ;  but  they  are  re- 
garded by  the  leaders  of  the  movement  as  having 
chiefly  laid  the  foundation  for  better  results  still 
to  come.  There  is  even  the  hope  that  at  some 
future  time  Finland  may  stand  more  on  an 
equality  with  Denmark  in  supplying  butter  for 
British  breakfast  tables  ;  and  if  we  are  to  go 
on  importing  prodigious  quantities  of  dairy  pro- 
duce from  abroad,  there  is  no  reason  why  Fin- 
land— a  country  which  has  not  only  won  much 
cordial  sympathy  from  the  English  people,  but 
takes  from  us  textile  goods,  machinery,  tools, 
artificial  manures,  railway  rails,  railway  engines, 
and  other  things  besides,  fully  equal  in  value  to 
what  she  sends  to  us — should  not  have  a  fair 
share  of  our  patronage. 

But  whatever  the  further  development  of 
agriculture  in  Finland  may  be,  the  one  thing 
certain  is  that  the  organization  of  her  dairy 
industry  has  enabled  her  to  fully  recover  from 
the  agricultural  depression  that  overtook  her 
twenty  years  ago.  Apart  from  the  unfavourable 


196  FINLAND 

seasons  of  the  last  few  years,  the  agriculture 
of  Finland  is  in  a  much  more  healthy  and  pros- 
perous condition  to-day  than  it  was  in  the  early 
eighties,  and  those  imports  of  cheap  rye  from 
Russia  which  then  seemed  to  threaten  her  with 
disaster  are  now  looked  upon  as  having  been 
little  more  than  blessings  in  disguise. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
SIBERIA 


last  country  in  the  world 
JL  from  which  the  British  agriculturist  has 
thought  to  meet  with  competition  on  his  home 
markets  is  Siberia.  But  the  rate  at  which  the 
imports  of  dairy  produce  from  Siberia  into  this 
country  are  increasing  is  prodigious.  In  1900 
they  represented  a  value  of  £980,000  ;  in  1901 
the  figure  rose  to  £1,655,000  ;  and  in  1902  it 
stood  at  £2,196,000.  In  fact,  Russian  butter 
was,  for  a  time  during  the  summer  of  1903, 
coming  to  London  at  the  rate  of  1,000  tons  a 
week,  and  there  were  large  quantities  of  eggs 
and  poultry  besides.  The  first  dairy  in  Siberia 
for  the  manufacture  of  butter  for  export  was 
not  set  up  until  1893.  Yet  to-day  the  number 
of  such  dairies  in  the  country  is  over  2,000,  and 
their  operations,  which  are  still  rapidly  extend- 
ing, already  cover  an  area  of  160,000  square 
miles.  As  for  the  total  production  of  butter 
in  Siberia,  it  increased  from  5,000,000  Ibs.  in 

197 


198  SIBERIA 

1898  to  67,000,000  Ibs.  in  1901.  The  value  of 
Siberia's  total  butter  export  in  1903  was  put  at 
£3,000,000. 

How  can  so  great  a  business  as  this  have  been 
developed,  in  so  short  a  time,  in  a  land  which 
the  English  farmer  has,  probably,  hitherto  asso- 
ciated with  frost,  and  snow,  and  political  exiles, 
rather  than  with  successful  and  competitive  agri- 
cultural pursuits  ? 

To  begin  with,  the  ordinary  idea  of  Siberia  is 
an  altogether  erroneous  one,  for  the  country  has 
vast  expanses  of  virgin  soil  of  wonderful  fertility, 
and  though  the  summer  is  short,  the  climate 
uncertain,  and  the  locusts  destructive,  there  is 
scope  for  almost  limitless  production.  But  the 
natural  advantages  of  the  land  remained  un- 
developed until  the  advent  of  the  Trans-Siberian 
Railway,  which  put  the  country  in  touch  with 
the  Western  world  ;  though  even  then  the  re- 
sults indicated  above  have  been  due  far  more  to 
foreign  than  to  native  enterprise. 

The  first  person  in  Siberia  to  make  butter 
according  to  modern  methods  was  an  English- 
woman, married  to  a  Russian  ;  and  the  first 
dairy  with  an  equipment  of  separators  for  butter 
production  was  opened  in  the  district  of  Kourgan 
by  a  Russian.  Notice  was  attracted  to  the 
Siberian  product  by  an  agricultural  show  held 


DANES   TO   THE   FORE  199 

at  Kourgan  in  1895,  but  still  more  effectually 
was  the  attention  of  foreign  buyers  called  to  it 
by  an  exhibition  organized  at  St.  Petersburg, 
in  1899,  by  the  Imperial  Economic  Society. 

No  sooner  did  the  Danes  realize  the  possi- 
bilities of  Siberia  than  they  went  there  and 
began  to  start  butter  factories  on  the  same  lines 
as  in  Denmark — with  this  difference,  however, 
that  they  did  not  attempt  to  bring  the  Russians 
into  a  scheme  of  co-operation,  but  preferred  to 
set  up  proprietary  dairies  instead.  There  was 
effective  organization,  but  the  peasants  were 
paid  for  the  supplies  they  brought  to  the  central 
stations,  without  sharing  in  the  profits.  They 
were  helped,  however,  in  other  ways,  capital 
being  advanced  to  them,  in  case  of  need,  for 
the  purchase  of  stock,  etc.,  and  the  business 
grew  with  great  rapidity.  Starting  at  Kourgan, 
it  soon  spread  to  Omsk,  Kainsk,  Ob  or  Novo- 
Nikolaievsk,  Barnoul,  Biisk,  Minussinsk,  and 
other  centres,  where  it  now  constitutes  the  main 
resource  of  the  population.  In  the  Barnoul,  or 
Altai,  region,  especially,  the  industry  has  under- 
gone great  expansion.  The  quantity  of  butter 
despatched  from  Ob  station  in  1899  was  only 
six  railway  truck-loads,  or  738  cwt. ;  whereas  in 
1902  the  total  from  this  one  centre  was  995 
truck-loads,  or  161,000  cwt.  At  Omsk  there 


200  SIBERIA 

are  no  fewer  than  eight  Danish  firms  established, 
and  many  Russian,  English,  and  German  firms 
have  likewise  joined  in  the  enterprise.  There 
are  two  Danish  houses  alone  in  the  country 
which  are  said  to  be  exporting  at  the  rate  of 
10,000,000  Ibs.  of  butter  a  year. 

It  was  not  without  a  good  deal  of  difficulty 
from  local  officials  that  "  foreigners  "  were  able 
to  play  their  part  in  developing  even  so  desirable 
an  industry  as  this  in  a  country  such  as  Russia, 
however  favourably  disposed  the  higher  officials 
might  be  to  the  scheme;  and  even  the  higher 
officials  have  sought  to  extend  the  business 
along  the  lines  of  co-operation  among  the 
Russian  peasantry  themselves  rather  than  in 
the  direction  of  encouraging  outsiders  to  set  up 
still  more  of  their  proprietary  establishments. 
To  this  end  a  number  of  co-operative  dairy 
associations  have  been  formed,  the  Imperial 
Government  granting  to  them  loans  not  exceed- 
ing £320,  at  4  per  cent.,  repayable  within  five 
years,  for  the  purposes  either  of  a  co-operative 
dairy  or  of  refrigerating  stores.  The  money 
is  generally  advanced  on  the  security  of  the 
live-stock  belonging  to  the  peasants,  and  the 
profits  are  divided  among  them  according 
to  the  amount  of  milk  they  have  supplied. 
In  other  cases  dairies  are  operated  by  the 


DIFFICULTIES   OF   THE   POSITION  201 

local  communes,  and  are  regarded  as  communal 
property. 

There  are,  however,  in  Siberia,  special  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  developing  the  industry 
along  such  lines  as  these.  The  peasantry  have 
not  yet  risen  out  of  the  depths  of  ignorance  in 
which  they  have  so  long  been  steeped ;  their 
tendency  to  herd  together  in  villages  is  prejudicial 
to  real  agricultural  development,  and  constitutes, 
together  with  drunkenness  and  corruption,  one 
of  the  curses  of  the  country ;  while  their  eager- 
ness for  money,  combined  with  the  keen  com- 
petition between  the  butter  merchants,  makes 
them  more  disposed  to  sell  their  milk  to  the 
highest  bidder  than  to  co-operate  for  the  working 
of  it  up  on  their  own  account.  The  allegation 
is  even  made  against  some  of  them  that  they 
are  so  ready  to  dispose  of  all  their  available 
supplies  that  they  do  not  keep  back  sufficient 
milk  to  provide  for  the  wants  of  their  own  fami- 
lies. Another  impediment  to  the  formation  of 
co-operative  dairies  in  Siberia  is  the  difficulty  of 
finding  disinterested  and  honest  managers. 

The  Imperial  authorities  are  doing  all  they  can 
to  promote  the  movement,  for,  in  addition  to 
advancing  loans,  and  helping  in  other  ways,  they 
have  appointed  official  dairy  instructors,  each  of 
whom  has  a  group  of  dairies  under  his  super- 


202 


SIBERIA 


vision.  The  Moscow  Imperial  Agricultural 
Society  is  likewise  showing  much  activity  in 
the  matter.  It  has  opened  branches  at  Kour- 
gan,  Tomsk,  and  Omsk,  and  these  branches  keep 
in  close  touch  with  one  another,  and  are  carrying 
on  a  propaganda  among  manufacturers  and  ex- 
porters with  the  special  view  of  securing  a 
direct  export  of  the  produce  to  London — which 
is  regarded  as  the  chief  market  —  and  doing 
away  with  the  Danish  middlemen.  But  up  to 
the  present  only  about  one-twelfth  of  the  exist- 
ing establishments  are  co-operative  or  com- 
munal, and  the  Danish  middleman  remains  the 
predominant  partner. 

How  under  these  various  conditions  the  in- 
dustry has  expanded  is  shown  by  the  following 
table :— 


YEAR. 

NUMBER   OF   DAIRIES. 

EXPORTS. 

Cwts. 

1898 

140 

48,360 

1899 

334 

86,730 

1900 

1,107 

354,670 

1901 

1,800 

599,720 

1902 

2,035 

685,500 

The  Government  run  four  butter  trains  a 
week  during  the  summer  season.  Starting  from 
Ob,  each  train  picks  up  waggons  at  various 
stations  (Omsk  generally  supplies  four)  until  the 
full  complement  of  from  25  to  28  has  been 


TRANSIT  ARRANGEMENTS  203 

reached.  Three  of  the  trains  go  to  Riga  and 
Windau,  the  destination  of  the  fourth  being 
St.  Petersburg,  Novi  Port,  and  Reval.  Each  of 
them  travels  at  grande  vitesse  speed,  and  takes 
precedence  of  all  ordinary  goods  trains.  Re- 
frigerator waggons,  painted  white,  are  provided 
for  the  traffic  (about  1,000  are  now  available), 
and  theoretically  there  should  be  a  supply  of  ice 
at  every  important  station,  either  for  use  in  the 
waggons  or  for  keeping  the  local  supply  of 
butter  fresh  until  the  train  arrives  ;  but  in  prac- 
tice, as  may  well  happen  in  Russia,  the  railway 
arrangements  are  distinctly  defective.  At  one 
station,  for  instance,  there  will  be  no  ice,  and 
at  another  there  will  be  ice  in  waiting,  but  no 
one  to  put  it  into  the  waggons.  From  Omsk 
(the  headquarters  of  the  industry)  to  the  port  of 
Riga  the  time  taken  was,  up  to  recently,  fourteen 
days,  but  the  transit  has  since  been  expedited. 
From  Riga  the  butter  comes  weekly  either  to 
London,  to  Hull,  or  to  Leith.  From  Windau 
supplies  reach  London  or  Newcastle  via  Copen- 
hagen, and  still  other  weekly  consignments  ar- 
rive in  London  from  Reval.  The  cost  of  the 
land  transit  from  Omsk  to  Riga  is  about  7*.  4rf. 
per  cwt.  From  Kurgan  to  Riga  it  would  be  5d. 
per  cwt.  less ;  from  Petropavlosk  3d.  per  cwt. 
less ;  from  Kainsk  3d.  per  cwt.  less ;  from  Ob 


204  SIBERIA 

6d.  per  cwt.  more ;  from  Barnoul  Is.  6d.  per  cwt. 
more,  and  so  on,  these  low  freights  being,  of 
course,  fixed  by  the  Government  for  the  express 
purpose  of  facilitating  the  export  of  the  produce. 
From  Riga  to  London  direct,  including  all 
wharfage  and  landing  charges,  the  freight  works 
out  at  between  2s.  and  2s.  6d.  per  cwt.  So  the 
butter  purchased  at  Omsk  at  the  rate  of,  say,  11 
roubles  per  pood,  or  £3  12s.  9d.  per  cwt.,  costs 
£4  2s.  3d.  by  the  time  it  reaches  London.  The 
total  distance  from  Omsk  to  London  is  3,600 
miles. 

Two  qualities  of  butter  are  exported  from 
Siberia — table  butter  and  cooking  butter;  and 
there  is  a  special  reason  why  much  of  the  latter 
quality — as  well  as  a  good  deal  of  the  former- 
should  be  consigned  to  Denmark  for  consump- 
tion in  that  country,  Great  Britain  and  Den- 
mark being,  in  fact,  the  two  chief  importers  of 
Siberian  dairy  produce.  Prior  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  co-operative  dairy  system  the  butter 
made  by  the  Danish  peasants  was  mostly  of 
an  uncertain  type ;  but  when  the  peasants  left 
off  producing  each  his  own  little  lot,  and  butter 
was  made  only  in  large  quantities  of  uniform 
quality,  the  inferior  kinds  disappeared.  There 
was,  however,  a  commercial  demand  for  these 
inferior,  and  consequently  cheaper,  kinds.  The 


DETAILS   OF  THE   DAIRY   INDUSTRY       205 

chemical  conditions  which  bring  about  a  rancid 
flavour  in  butter,  and  make  it  unsuitable  for  the 
table,  are  volatile,  and  driven  off  by  the  heat  in 
the  process  of  baking.  Butter  which  would  not 
be  palatable  on  bread  may,  therefore,  still  be 
quite  suitable  for  the  making  of  confectionery. 
So  it  is  that  "confectioner's  butter"  is  a  well- 
recognized  article  of  commerce.  But  with  the 
improvements  effected  in  the  Danish  system  of 
production  there  was  no  longer  sufficient  of  the 
"  confectioner's  "  variety  in  the  country  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  pastry-cooks.  Consequently 
the  Danish  traders,  while  sending  their  own  pro- 
duce to  Great  Britain,  imported  at  first  "con- 
fectioner's butter"  from  the  United  States, 
Galicia,  the  interior  of  Germany,  and  other 
countries,  a  considerable  trade  growing  up  in 
the  article  in  question.  But  this  trade  is  now 
done  exclusively  with  Russia,  owing  to  the  lower 
freight,  while  a  good  deal  of  Russian  butter  of  a 
superior  quality  is  used  in  Denmark  as  an  ordi- 
nary article  of  diet  because  it  comes  cheaper 
than  the  Danish,  which  can  be  much  more  pro- 
fitably exported  to  Great  Britain. 

In  addition  to  the  substantial  quantities  of 
Russian  butter  sent  to  Denmark  for  consumption 
there,  much  also  goes  to  Copenhagen  to  be 
"graded"  by  the  Danish  experts,  and,  if  ap- 


206  SIBERIA 

proved,  re-consigned  to  England.  There  have 
been  suggestions  that  Russian  butter  so  landed 
in  Denmark  is  forwarded  thence  to  ourselves  as 
Danish  ;  but  the  laws  of  the  country  are  severe 
against  any  such  deception,  and  the  Danish  pro- 
ducers have  voluntarily  agreed  upon  a  brand 
with  which  all  their  home-made  butter  is  marked 
when  exported.  Large  supplies  of  Siberian  pro- 
duce were  also  sent,  prior  to  the  war,  to  points 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  to  China  and  Japan. 

What  the  future  development  of  the  industry 
may  be  is  an  interesting  problem  both  for  Siberia 
herself  and  for  those  other  countries,  including 
British  Colonies,  likely  to  be  affected  directly  or 
indirectly  by  her  entrance  as  a  formidable  com- 
petitor on  the  world's  food  markets.  Of  the 
Trans-Siberian  Railway  it  has  well  been  said  by 
the  British  Commercial  Agent  in  Russia,  Mr. 
Henry  Cooke,  in  a  report  on  the  "  Trade  of 
Siberia,"  that  it  has  "already  served  as  a  spur 
to  the  colonization  and  civilization  of  this  huge 
inert  expanse  of  territory,  whose  very  name 
hitherto  stood  but  as  a  symbol  of  isolation"; 
while  as  regards  the  rural  industries  which  have 
followed  the  railway,  I  have  the  assurance  of  a 
trader  intimately  acquainted  with  recent  develop- 
ments in  Siberia  that  they  have  been  "  a  perfect 
God-send "  for  the  peasants.  "The  people,"  writes 


BASIS   OF  THE   BUSINESS  207 

my  authority,  "  have  been  literally  saved  from 
starvation  by  what  they  have  received  for  their 
butter.  Yet  they  are  anything  but  grateful. 
Siberia's  population  exists  largely  on  English 
money,  but  curses  the  giver." 

The  point,  however,  with  which  I  am  here 
mainly  concerned  is  not  either  a  fiscal  or  a  senti- 
mental one,  but  the  practical  consideration  that 
the  exceedingly  rapid  growth  and  the  truly 
enormous  expansion  of  the  Siberian  dairy  in- 
dustry, on  the  lines  described,  are  directly  due 
to  that  system  of  effective  and  thoroughgoing 
organization  which,  whatever  the  precise  form  it 
may  assume,  and  whatever  the  particular  country 
in  which  it  may  be  developed,  constitutes  in 
present-day  conditions  the  indispensable  basis  for 
any  real  success  in  agricultural  pursuits. 


CHAPTER  XV 
SERVIA 

'THHE  conditions  from  which  organized  effort 
X  has  sought  to  rescue  the  agriculturists  of 
Servia  were  at  one  time  unspeakably  bad. 
Crippled  by  taxation,  and  his  normal  condition 
of  impoverishment  made  worse  by  occasional 
crop  failures,  the  Servian  farmer  in  his  struggle 
for  existence  had  two  natural  enemies  who 
profited  by  his  misfortunes,  and  preyed  upon 
him  for  all  that  he  was  worth.  The  one  was  the 
shopkeeper  in  the  towns,  the  other  was  the  inn- 
keeper in  the  villages. 

It  was  to  the  shopkeeper  he  went  when  he 
was  obliged  to  borrow  money  for  his  farming 
operations.  The  ordinary  banks  were  far  beyond 
the  reach  of  modest  cultivators  who  had  no 
adequate  security  to  offer,  and  a  tradesman  was 
the  only  alternative.  It  was  convenient  to  go 
to  him,  and  the  shopkeeper  himself  was  ready 
enough  to  lend.  The  drawback  to  the  arrange- 
ment was  that  the  shopkeeper's  recognized  rate 

208 


PLUNDERING   THE   FARMERS  209 

of  interest  was  one  franc  per  month  for  every 
ten  francs — say  120  per  cent.  So  profitable  was 
the  business  that  people  became  shopkeepers  in 
the  towns  for  the  express  purpose  of  lending 
money  to  customers,  not  caring  whether  the  shop 
itself  paid  or  not.  The  poor  farmer  might  be 
ruined,  but  that  was,  for  them,  a  mere  matter 
of  detail. 

The  innkeeper  in  the  villages  was  not  a 
money-lender.  He  preferred  to  leave  that 
branch  of  the  business  of  plunder  to  the  trader 
in  the  towns,  and  to  take  up  one  which  he 
could  work  to  his  own  particular  advantage. 
Most  of  the  innkeepers  in  Servia  are  Greeks, 
and  the  Servian  Jew  who  lends  money  has  the 
reputation  of  being  a  man  of  modest  pretensions 
compared  with  the  Servian  Greek  who  doesn't. 
In  any  case  the  village  innkeepers  had  a  way  of 
inducing  the  farmers  to  sell  their  produce  to 
them,  instead  of  going  to  market  with  it,  and  the 
sale  was  often  effected  in  this  way  at  a  price 
which  represented  a  very  small  profit  indeed  for 
the  man  who  had  produced  the  crop,  and  a  large 
profit  for  the  innkeeper  who  assumed  the  role 
of  middleman. 

What  the  Servian  farmer  stood  especially  in 
need  of,  therefore  (though  there  were  other  things 
besides),  was  to  be  rescued  from  the  clutches 


2io  SERVIA 

of  these  two  sets  of  harpies,  and  it  became  evi- 
dent that  he  could  not  work  out  his  economic 
salvation  if  left  to  his  individual  resources.  An 
effective  combination  was  absolutely  indispen- 
sable, and  the  first  thing  required  of  such  com- 
bination was  that  the  peasants  should  be  provided 
with  an  easy  system  of  agricultural  credit. 
People's  Banks  had  been  in  existence  since  1883, 
but  these  did  not  sufficiently  meet  the  case  of 
the  poorer  cultivators.  What  was  needed  was 
the  starting  of  village  banks  of  the  Raiffeisen 
type.  These  alone  could  give  the  peasant  the 
kind  of  credit  which  would  be  of  real  service. 
But  he  wanted  more  than  easy  credit.  He 
wanted,  besides,  some  practical  assistance  both 
in  the  spending  of  the  money  he  borrowed  and 
in  the  disposal  of  the  crops  he  raised. 

Servia  is  not  a  country  which  offered  the  same 
scope  as  France  (for  example)  in  the  way  of  an 
elaborate  network  of  agricultural  syndicates  and 
other  combinations  for  a  variety  of  purposes, 
and  what  has  happened  there  is  that  the  agri- 
cultural credit  banks,  which  began  to  be  set  up 
in  Servia  in  1893,  have  practically  covered  the 
whole  ground  of  agricultural  organization.  They 
not  only  receive  deposits  and  make  loans  to  the 
farmers,  but  they  themselves  will  see  to  the 
buying  of  cattle,  seeds,  fertilizers,  implements, 


AGRICULTURAL  CREDIT   BANKS  211 

and  other  things,  thus  serving  the  purpose  of 
a  supply  association ;  they  procure  the  agricul- 
tural machinery  which  local  associations  hold 
in  common  ;  they  undertake  the  sale  of  produce, 
and  they  also  arrange  for  various  forms  of  in- 
surance, including  insurance  against  sickness, 
against  famine  resulting  from  loss  of  crops, 
and  also  against  prejudice  to  crops  due  to  an 
inadequate  supply  of  labour.  It  is  true  that 
some  of  these  functions  will  be  delegated  to  sub- 
sidiary bodies,  but  the  agricultural  credit  bank 
is  the  controlling  spirit.  Thus,  in  the  report  of 
the  Union  of  Agricultural  Co-operative  Societies 
in  Servia  (a  federation  formed  in  1895)  for  the 
year  ending  June  30th,  1903,  mention  is  made 
of  228  agricultural  credit  and  savings  banks, 
while  the  number  of  exclusively  purchase 
societies  is  given  as  only  two.  Yet  the  afore- 
said banks,  in  addition  to  granting  during  the 
year  8,209  loans,  representing  a  total  of 
£26,500,  bought  agricultural  necessaries  to  the 
extent  of  another  £15,000.  These  may  be  small 
figures  compared  with  corresponding  returns  in 
France  and  Germany ;  but,  considering  that 
Servia  is  a  small  and  a  backward  country,  and 
that  the  movement  here  described  only  began 
in  1893,  the  results  stated  are  distinctly  credit- 
able. 


212  SERVIA 

The  report  further  mentions  that  while  58 
fresh  agricultural  societies  were  formed  during 
the  year,  the  net  total  was  not  increased  by 
that  number,  inasmuch  as  13  dropped  out  of 
existence.  The  reason  for  this  fact  is  that  the 
secretary  of  an  agricultural  co-operative  associa- 
tion in  Servia  is  generally  the  parish  priest  or 
the  schoolmaster,  and  should  these  persons  leave 
the  district,  there  may  be  no  one  sufficiently 
well  educated  to  take  their  place.  A  return 
made  by  253  societies  shows  that  of  their  12,361 
members  6,218  could  read  and  write,  and  6,143 
could  not.  So  we  get  the  further  fact  that 
when  the  Central  Union  started  a  forward  move- 
ment in  support  of  its  propaganda,  it  arranged 
to  give  lectures  on  purely  agricultural  subjects 
in  fifteen  towns  or  villages,  and  to  begin  the 
training  of  young  people  in  the  duties  of  organ- 
izing secretary  in  fourteen. 

The  Central  Union  issues,  also,  an  agricultural 
newspaper,  many  pamphlets,  and  an  elaborate 
and  extremely  practical  handbook.  In  this  way 
good  educational  work  is  being  done,  in  addition 
to  the  material  benefits  afforded  to  the  agri- 
cultural community.  In  still  another  direction, 
social  peace  is  actively  promoted  in  Servian  rural 
districts  by  the  institution  known  as  "  The  Court 
of  Good  Men,"  which  it  is  one  of  the  aims  of 


PROMOTION  OF   SOCIAL   PEACE  213 

the  agricultural  co-operative  associations  there 
to  promote.  "The  Court  of  Good  Men"  is 
really  a  board  of  arbitration  for  the  settlement 
of  local  disputes,  so  as  to  avoid  alike  the  spread 
of  ill-blood  and  the  waste  of  money  in  legal  pro- 
ceedings. The  report  already  referred  to  shows 
that  during  the  year  ending  June  30th,  1903,  no 
fewer  than  103  cases  came  before  these  courts, 
and  out  of  the  103  there  are  three  only  which 
are  described  as  ending  unsatisfactorily.  Most  of 
the  cases  turned  on  questions  of  right  of  way  or 
the  appropriation  of  a  slice  of  a  neighbour's  land 
in  the  process  of  ploughing  the  unfenced  fields ; 
but  a  certain  number  dealt  with  claims  for  money 
due,  and  still  others  related  to  "  insults  to  one's 
honour."  But,  whatever  the  points  in  dispute, 
the  value  of  the  services  rendered  to  the  parties 
concerned  in  obtaining  so  large  a  proportion 
of  friendly  settlements  may  well  be  set  to  the 
further  credit  of  the  local  organizers  of  agri- 
culture. 

So  the  conditions  in  Servia  are  being  sub- 
stantially improved,  and  that  country,  also,  is 
joining  with  zest  in  the  scramble  among  the 
nations  for  the  privilege  of  furnishing  us  with 
our  food  supplies.  From  a  bacon  factory  set  up 
in  Belgrade  in  1901  there  have  come  to  Eng- 
land in  the  course  of  a  single  year  19,750  cwts. 


214  SERVIA 

of  bacon,  obtained  from  16,120  pigs,  though  up 
to  quite  recently  the  Servian  farmers  paid  little 
attention  to  pig-breeding,  and  none  to  fattening 
for  the  markets.  Of  poultry,  too,  Servia  sup- 
plies us  with  considerable  quantities,  especially 
for  our  Christmas  markets,  and  she  is  also 
opening  up  a  good  trade  with  us  in  eggs,  judg- 
ing from  the  fact  that  a  consignment  she  des- 
patched to  London  in  November,  1902,  filled 
four  railway  waggons. 

Servia  may  be  a  small  country,  and  a  poor 
and  uncultivated  one ;  but  she  has  re-organized 
her  agricultural  methods,  she  has  re-established 
her  farmers,  and  she  now  feels  quite  equal  to 
sending  her  surplus  stocks  all  across  Europe  to 
compete  with  the  British  producer  in  his  home 
markets. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
POLAND 

IT  was  not  until  1900  that  the  first  agricul- 
tural association  on  co-operative  lines  was 
started  in  Poland,  yet  already  the  practical 
utility  of  this  form  of  combination  has  been 
abundantly  proved  in  a  country  where  agricul- 
tural conditions  had  suffered  from  a  long  series 
of  adverse  circumstances. 

There  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  Poland 
when  the  peasants,  instead  of  paying  rent, 
worked  for  the  landowner,  to  whom  they  were 
so  much  bound  that  they  could  not  leave  the 
land  without  his  permission.  Even  when  this 
requirement  was  abolished,  they  still  did  work 
in  lieu  of  paying  rent,  and  though  they  were 
granted  the  right  to  own  land,  comparatively 
few  of  them  had  acquired  possession  of  their 
holdings  down  to  1860.  Four  years  later  the 
peasants  had  a  grant  made  to  them  of  the  land 
they  lived  on,  and  they  were  now  freed  from 
any  obligation  to  work  (except  as  wage-earners) 

215 


216  POLAND 

for  the  previous  owners  thereof.  These  in- 
dividuals consequently  lost  a  good  deal  of  the 
cheap  labour  on  which  they  had  formerly  relied, 
the  cost  of  production  being  thereby  increased. 
This  did  not  matter  very  much  so  long  as  good 
prices  could  be  secured  for  the  grain ;  but  a 
serious  position  was  reached  when  those  prices 
fell  40  per  cent,  as  the  combined  result  of 
the  great  production  in  the  United  States 
and  of  the  tariff  war  between  Russia  and 
Germany. 

Meanwhile  the  substantial  expansion  of  in- 
dustries, fostered  by  a  high  protective  tariff, 
had  drawn  off  more  and  more  of  the  rural 
populations  into  the  towns,  thus  further  de- 
creasing the  supply,  and  increasing  the  cost,  of 
agricultural  labour.  Other  causes  tending  to 
the  same  result  were  the  increasing  stream  of 
emigration,  the  tendency  for  the  labourers  to 
wander  into  Germany  and  Austria- Hungary  in 
harvest  time,  attracted  by  the  higher  wages  paid 
there  than  in  Poland ;  and  the  dividing  up  of 
the  large  estates  into  small  lots,  which — with 
the  assistance  of  the  (State)  Peasants'  Bank, 
when  necessary — were  purchased  by  the  peas- 
ants, whose  labour  thus  became  still  less  avail- 
able for  the  larger  proprietors. 

One  of  the  main  objects  sought  by  the  co- 


THE   LABOUR  PROBLEM  217 

operative  agricultural  societies  now  to  be  found 
in  each  of  the  ten  governments  in  Poland  has, 
therefore,  been  that  of  facilitating  the  more 
general  use  of  machinery,  for  its  own  sake,  for 
the  purpose  of  helping  the  large  proprietors  to 
solve  the  labour  problem,  or  for  promoting  the 
interests  of  the  small  holders,  many  of  whom 
found  it  difficult  enough  to  carry  on  their  opera- 
tions at  a  profit,  and  regarded  as  the  greatest  of 
boons  the  possibility  of  acquiring,  or  obtaining 
the  use  of,  machines  and  implements  on  the 
most  advantageous  terms. 

In  some  cases  (as  the  British  Consul-General 
at  Warsaw  relates  in  a  report  to  the  Foreign 
Office)  the  society  enables  a  member  to  secure 
machinery  at  cash  price  on  credit ;  in  others  it 
will  itself  purchase  the  machinery  and  let  it  out 
at  a  lowr  rate  to  farmers.  From  2d.  to  5d.  will 
be  charged  per  day  for  a  plough  ;  from  5d.  to  2s. 
for  winnowers ;  and  from  2s.  to  2s.  6d.  for  drills. 
The  Warsaw  society  is  said  to  have  already 
obtained  machinery  to  the  extent  of  £29,000  in  a 
year.  The  societies  also  deal  in  artificial  manures 
and  seeds,  buying  at  wholesale  prices,  and  selling 
retail,  on  credit,  at  an  advance  of  only  5  per 
cent,  on  those  prices.  Mr.  Murray  says  in  his 
report  for  1900  that  "naturally  this  action  on 
the  part  of  the  societies  has  led  to  great  op- 


218  POLAND 

position  on  the  part  of  the  dealers,  who  allege 
that  the  societies  should  confine  themselves  to 
arranging  shows  and  trials,  and  to  improvement 
of  the  roads  and  breeds  of  cattle,  and  collecting 
of  statistics " ;  but  in  his  subsequent  report  he 
was  able  to  say: — 

1901  was  a  very  good  year  for  the  Polish  agricultural 
societies,  and  proved  that  these  institutions  are  extremely 
useful  to  agriculturists  as  a  means  for  buying  articles  for 
agriculture  and  for  selling  its  products  on  terms  they  could 
not  otherwise  get.  The  turn-over  of  some  of  these 
societies  was  very  considerable,  when  it  is  taken  into  con- 
sideration that  it  was  the  first  year  of  their  existence,  that 
their  capital  is  very  small,  and  that  they  have  to  compete  with 
the  middleman,  whose  efforts,  now  he  is  losing  ground,  are 
more  than  doubled.  .  .  .  British  firms,  and  more  especially 
makers  of  agricultural  machinery  and  implements,  should 
very  seriously  consider  opening  up  business  connections 
with  these  societies,  as  their  importance,  in  view  of  the 
special  facilities  which  have  been  granted  to  them  by  the 
Government  as  to  freights,  loans,  etc.,  is  sure  to  increase 
very  considerably,  and  they  will  become  about  the  most 
important  buyers  of  articles  connected  with  agriculture. 

In  addition  to  the  purchase  of  machinery,  etc., 
agricultural  organization  is  likewise  being  de- 
veloped in  Poland  in  the  interests  of  the  dairy 
industry.  Other  societies  have  taken  up  the 
question  of  improving  the  breed  of  cattle.  A 
Mutual  Insurance  Society  against  damage  done 
by  hail  has  also  been  started. 


SCHOOL  GARDENS  219 

Special  co-operative  agricultural  credit  banks 
have  not  yet,  apparently,  been  formed  in  Poland  ; 
but  Mr.  Murray  says  that  the  facility  with  which 
hop-growers  can  now  obtain  credit  from  the 
State  Bank  does  much  to  encourage  hop  cultiva- 
tion, and  has  rendered  an  incalculable  service  to 
the  hop-growers.  Advances  are  also  made  by 
the  State  to  grain-growers.  In  the  matter  of 
agricultural  education  Mr.  Murray  says  : — "  A 
good  step  that  has  been  taken  recently  is  the 
establishment  of  gardens  at  primary  schools, 
that  the  children  may  learn  something  about 
gardening  and  the  care  of  fruit  trees,  which  they 
plant  themselves  on  fete  days  arranged  specially 
for  the  purpose."  In  former  times,  it  seems, 
Polish  landowners  would  require  their  peasants 
to  prove  that  they  had  planted  a  certain  number 
of  fruit  trees  before  they  would  allow  them  to 
marry.  This  old  custom  has  disappeared,  but 
Poland  has  now  got  120,000  acres  of  fruit 
orchards,  and  fruit  culture  is  regarded  there 
as  an  industry  especially  deserving  of  en- 
couragement. 

One  drawback  to  the  complete  success  of 
agricultural  organization  in  Poland  is  that,  for 
political  reasons,  no  federation  of  societies  oper- 
ating over  the  whole  country  will  be  permitted 
by  the  authorities,  and  each  group  must  be 


220  POLAND 

content  to  work  within  the  boundaries  of  a 
single  government.  But,  in  spite  of  this  limita- 
tion, the  movement  has  made  an  excellent  start, 
and  the  position  of  the  Polish  agriculturist 
has  already  undergone  a  decided  improvement. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
LUXEMBURG 

EVEN  in  so  small  a  State  as  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Luxemburg,  which  occupies 
only  1,585  square  miles  of  territory,  and  has 
not  much  more  than  200,000  inhabitants,  the 
organization  of  agriculture  has  been  taken  in 
hand  with  a  thoroughness  that  compares  favour- 
ably with  the  conditions  to  be  found  in  those 
neighbouring  countries  of  France,  Germany, 
and  Belgium  between  which  it  is  wedged. 

Luxemburg  became  possessed  of  an  "  Associa- 
tion Royale  Agricole"  in  1846,  and  of  "Le 
Circle  Agricole  et  Horticole  "  in  1853,  and  these 
institutions  performed  a  useful  function  in 
holding  exhibitions,  circulating  literature,  and 
watching  over  the  commercial  interests  of  agri- 
culture. But  the  time  came  when  Luxemburg, 
seeing  what  other  countries  were  doing,  con- 
cluded, as  they  had  done,  that  combinations  with 
a  more  practical  purpose  had  become  indispensa- 
ble. Accordingly,  in  1883,  the  Luxemburg 

221 


222  LUXEMBURG 

House  of  Representations  passed  a  law  author- 
izing the  formation  of  agricultural  syndicates, 
the  immediate  purpose  of  which  was  to  be  the 
carrying  out  of  works  for  the  improvement  of 
the  soil.  These  were  followed,  later  on,  by  the 
formation  of  many  other  syndicates  on  the 
general  model  of  those  established  in  France. 
One  of  the  primary  objects  sought  by  this  newer 
type  of  organization  was  the  collective  purchase 
of  agricultural  necessaries,  to  which  end  the 
members  of  the  syndicates  held  annual  meetings, 
where  they  announced  the  quantities  of  chemical 
manures,  seeds,  etc.,  they  would  require  during 
the  year.  The  administration  then  grouped  the 
orders,  bargained  with  the  manufacturers  for  the 
entire  quantity,  and  had  it  sent  to  some  con- 
venient centre  in  waggon-load  lots. 

Then,  also,  the  associations  held  periodical 
conferences  at  which  addresses  were  given  by 
experts  in  agricultural  science,  gatherings  of 
this  kind  being  found  to  have  an  important 
educational  influence  on  the  cultivators  of  the 
soil  who  form  the  bulk  of  the  little  community. 
In  1894  the  first  co-operative  dairy  in  Luxem- 
burg was  formed.  To-day  there  is  a  consider- 
able number  of  these  organizations  in  the  Grand 
Duchy.  They  have  been  grouped  into  a  general 
federation,  the  Council  of  which  supervises  not 


A   COMPREHENSIVE   PROGRAMME  223 

only  the  dairies  but  the  sale  of  the  butter  and 
cheese ;  and  the  peasants  find  their  own  labours 
have  decreased  in  proportion  as  their  profits  have 
augmented.  In  1899  the  fruit  growers  formed 
a  combination  to  organize  the  joint  export  of 
their  produce.  Other  associations  deal  with  the 
insurance  of  live-stock,  these  being  supplemented 
by  a  federation  for  re-insurance. 

The  most  important  factor  in  the  general 
situation  was,  however,  brought  about  when  the 
House  of  Representatives  passed  a  further  law 
authorizing  the  Government  of  the  Grand 
Duchy,  on  the  application  of  the  Communal 
Councils,  to  establish  Agricultural  Credit  Banks 
from  which  the  local  associations  could  obtain 
loans  up  to  £40  each,  at  5  per  cent,  interest,  for 
periods  not  exceeding  three  years.  In  this  way 
the  peasants  were  often  enabled  to  at  once  take 
advantage  of  agricultural  improvements  which 
otherwise  would  have  been  beyond  their  means. 

The  Government  also  appointed  a  commission 
of  experts  to  watch  over  and  extend  the  work 
carried  on  in  the  experimental  and  demonstra- 
tion fields  already  set  up  by  various  associations, 
and  to  furnish  reports  on  that  work  to  the 
agricultural  journals  in  the  interests  of  the 
whole  farming  community.  The  commission 
was  further  charged  with  the  task  of  popu- 


224  LUXEMBURG 

larizing  the  newest  and  best  types  of  agricultural 
machinery  by  giving  demonstrations  thereof  in 
the  country  districts,  thus  bringing  them  under 
the  direct  notice  of  the  peasantry ;  and  it  was 
instructed  to  prepare  agricultural  maps  of  the 
Grand  Duchy,  so  that  the  farmers  in  any  par- 
ticular locality  would  be  in  a  better  position  to 
obtain  the  kind  of  fertilizers  needed  for  the  soil 
they  were  cultivating. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE    UNITED    STATES 

WHEN  visiting  the  United  States  in  the 
winter  of  1902-1903  to  collect  data  for 
my  book  on  American  Railways,  I  had  many 
opportunities  of  learning  how,  in  various  ways, 
and  in  different  directions,  the  agricultural  in- 
terests of  the  country  had  been  advanced  by 
a  resort  to  improved  methods  of  production, 
and  especially  by  systems  of  combination  which 
had  enabled  producers  to  make  arrangements 
with  railway  companies  that  tended  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  both.  I  have  thought,  however, 
that  for  the  special  purpose  of  the  present  work, 
it  would  be  better,  instead  of  attempting  to  deal 
with  United  States  conditions  as  a  whole,  to 
give  a  study  of  a  particular  district,  and  it 
seemed  to  me  that  no  one  district  among  those 
I  saw  in  the  course  of  my  journeyings  on  the 
American  Continent  would  be  more  suitable  for 
the  purpose  than  that  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad.  Apart  from  numerous  ramifications, 

Q  225 


226  THE   UNITED   STATES 

this  railway  runs  in  a  direct  line  from  Chicago 
to  New  Orleans,  and,  for  a  considerable  part 
of  that  stretch  of  over  900  miles,  serves  many 
centres  where  the  local  interests  are  mainly 
agricultural. 

With  a  view  to  obtaining  definite  facts  and 
figures,  I  communicated  with  the  president 
of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company,  Mr. 
Stuyvesant  Fish,  and  at  his  request  Mr.  T.  J. 
Hudson,  the  Company's  traffic  manager,  has 
drawn  up  for  me  what  I  now  venture  to  offer 
as  a  profoundly  interesting  statement,  based  on 
the  results  of  his  thirty  years'  experience  in 
the  service  of  the  Illinois  Central.  This  is  what 
Mr.  Hudson  says  : — 

Before  the  advent  of  railroads  each  town  or  city  was 
dependent  for  its  fruits  and  vegetables  on  the  surround- 
ing country,  and  then  the  supply  was  only  abundant 
during  the  particular  season  when  such  products  were 
grown.  As  the  facilities  for  rapid  transportation  came 
and  progressed,  the  farmers  enlarged  their  operations, 
until  now  cities  and  towns  in  all  parts  of  the  country 
are  kept  supplied  the  year  round  with  fresh  fruit  and 
vegetables.  The  traffic  is  immense,  and  has  grown  to 
be  of  such  commercial  importance  that  in  cities  like 
New  York,  Chicago,  and  St.  Louis  entire  streets  are 
given  over  to  the  handling  of  the  business.  In  many 
places  whole  farms  are  used  entirely  in  the  raising  of 
truck  (market-garden  produce),  so  profitable  have  pro- 
ducers found  it  to  be.  They  take  advantage  of  the 
newest  discoveries  in  connection  with  agriculture,  as 


MARKET-GARDENING  227 

developed  by  Agricultural  Colleges  and  Experiment 
Stations,  particularly  in  the  South,  and  by  these  means 
are  enabled  to  add  materially  to  the  productiveness  of 
the  soil.  So  the  business  has  grown  from  gardens  sur- 
rounding cities  to  territories  covering  many  States,  fur- 
nishing the  railroads  with  a  high-class  traffic  and  a  crop 
of  quick  sale  for  the  farmer. 

While  at  the  present  time  the  States  south  of  the 
Ohio  River  and  east  of  the  Mississippi  River  supply  a 
large  proportion  of  the  produce  of  this  nature,  it  is 
only  in  comparatively  recent  years  that  this  has  been 
the  case,  for  the  reason  that  the  development  of  that 
part  of  the  country  in  the  matter  of  transportation 
facilities  has  come  since  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  In 
fact,  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  truck-farming  was 
only  in  its  infancy  in  Illinois.  The  building  of  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad  opened  up  a  region  in  Southern 
Illinois  particularly  adapted  to  fruit  and  vegetable  grow- 
ing. In  the  early  sixties  settlers  in  the  vicinity  of  Cobden 
planted  orchards,  having  in  mind  the  supplying  of  fruit 
to  the  Chicago  market,  where  prices  were  high ;  and,  while 
waiting  for  the  orchards  to  mature,  they  took  up  the 
raising  of  vegetables  and  small  fruits,  such  as  tomatoes 
and  berries.  Meeting  with  success,  they  continued  the 
business,  which  increased  in  volume  each  year  until  it 
has  developed  into  its  present  proportions. 

With  the  close  of  the  war  and  the  opening  up  of  direct 
North  and  South  lines  of  transportation,  the  business  had 
gradually  extended  into  the  South  until  now,  as  stated 
above,  that  section  of  the  country  has  become  a  great 
fruit  and  vegetable  territory.  As  the  demand  in  Northern 
cities  for  fresh  fruits  and  vegetables  the  entire  year  round 
grew,  truck-farming  kept  extending  further  South  in  order 
to  get  the  earlier  crops.  The  extreme  Southern  pro- 
ducers had  of  course  to  pay  high  transportation  charges 


228  THE   UNITED   STATES 

on  account  of  the  distance,  and  there  was  great  risk  in- 
volved in  sending  the  produce  to  Northern  markets  on 
account  of  the  time  involved  in  transit.  To  meet  this, 
the  railroads  have  furnished  special  service,  and  the  pro- 
ducers have  combined  and  formed  associations  in  order 
to  secure  advantages  in  reduced  rates,  and,  also,  to  effect 
improvements  in  the  manner  of  handling  both  at  the 
point  of  despatch  and  at  the  destination.  As  the  result 
of  all  these  conditions  the  far  South  and  South-west  can 
now  compete  with  the  more  Northern  localities  in  the 
regular  seasons,  and,  besides,  furnish  the  produce  during 
winter  months  at  prices  within  the  reach  of  all. 

While  the  principal  movement  of  the  traffic  is  from  the 
South  to  the  North,  vast  quantities  of  Northern-grown 
potatoes,  cabbages,  onions,  celery,  etc.,  are  transported  to 
the  South  every  winter,  so  that  the  Illinois  Central  at  one 
season  of  the  year  hauls  train-loads  of  such  produce  North- 
bound, and  then,  a  few  months  later,  hauls  the  same  kind 
of  commodities  South-bound. 

The  Southern  States  traversed  by  the  Illinois  Central 
and  Yazoo  and  Mississippi  Valley  Railroads  are  probably 
the  largest  fruit  and  vegetable-producing  States  in  the 
Union.  Crystal  Springs,  Miss.,  on  the  Illinois  Central, 
is,  indeed,  the  largest  tomato-shipping  point  in  the  world, 
and  other  of  our  stations  are  as  notable  in  the  raising  of 
strawberries  and  vegetables,  car-loads  after  car-loads  of 
such  commodities  being  forwarded  during  the  different 
seasons. 

As  an  indication  of  the  improvements  made  by  the 
railroads  in  the  facilities  for  handling  this  perishable 
traffic,  I  may  say  that  in  the  beginning  shippers  were 
obliged  to  use  either  common  box  cars  or  cattle  cars,  or 
send  by  express.  As  regards  the  last-mentioned  course, 
not  only  was  it  almost  impracticable,  on  account  of  the 
high  charges,  but  the  produce  met  with  hasty  handling, 


THE   RAILWAYS   AND  THE   TRADERS       229 

and  suffered  from  the  poor  ventilation  in  the  baggage 
cars.  The  box  cars  also  afforded  poor  ventilation,  causing 
the  vegetables  to  heat,  while  the  stock  cars  were  too  open, 
and  exposed  the  contents  to  the  weather,  besides  which 
there  was  the  constant  pounding  and  jarring,  owing  to 
absence  of  springs  on  the  cars.  Now  we  provide  modern 
ventilated  cars  and  refrigerator  cars,  which  ride  as  easily 
as  passenger  coaches.  Trains  composed  of  such  cars  are 
run  through  on  passenger  train  time,  enabling  the  fruit 
and  vegetables  to  be  placed  on  the  market  almost  as  fresh 
as  at  the  time  of  gathering. 

The  manner  of  loading — which  is,  of  course,  an  im- 
portant consideration  in  the  carrying  on  of  this  traffic — 
has  been  reduced  to  a  science.  The  contents  of  a  venti- 
lated car  are  so  arranged  that  when  the  car  is  in  motion 
a  current  of  air  comes  in  at  the  front  end  ventilators, 
passes  between  the  tiers  of  packages,  and  escapes  through 
the  rear  ventilators.  Where  refrigerator  cars  are  used 
they  are  iced  several  hours  before  being  loaded,  so  that 
the  temperature  is  of  the  proper  degree  when  the  ship- 
ments are  placed  therein.  When  necessary  the  cars  are 
also  re-iced  en  route.  In  this  way  fruits  and  vegetables 
of  the  most  perishable  kind  can  be  carried  thousands  of 
miles  and  delivered  in  good  condition. 

Owing  to  the  nature  of  the  traffic,  the  special  kind  of 
cars  required,  and  the  need  to  run  the  trains  on  fast 
schedules,  the  rates  charged  were  necessarily  high,  par- 
ticularly for  less-than-car-load  lots  ;  and  in  order  to  secure 
the  benefit  of  lower,  or  car-load,  rates,  the  shippers  and 
consignees  found  it  necessary  to  form  organizations. 
These  organizations  have  worked  to  the  mutual  advan- 
tage of  all — the  railroads  as  well  as  the  shippers  and 
consignees. 

The  building  of  the  Illinois  Central  opened  up,  as 
already  mentioned,  a  region  in  Southern  Illinois  which 


230  THE   UNITED   STATES 

was  particularly  well  adapted  to  the  raising  of  fruits  and 
vegetables,  the  territory  in  the  vicinity  of  Cobden  taking 
the  initiative  in  the  matter.  It  was  at  this  station  that, 
about  twenty-five  years  ago,  the  first  Fruit  Growers1 
Association  was  formed,  establishing  what  is  known  as 
the  Granger  System  of  shipping.  The  associations  formed 
under  this  system  are  organized  under  the  laws  of  the 
State,  and  are  capitalized  at  from  $1,000  to  $5,000.  The 
stock  is  issued  in  shares  of  $10  each,  and  any  person 
engaged  in  the  growing  or  shipping  of  fruits  and  vege- 
tables who  has  subscribed  for  a  share  is  considered  a 
member.  The  officers  of  the  association  generally  consist 
of  a  president,  vice-president,  secretary,  and  treasurer 
and  six  directors,  elected  by  the  shareholders  at  the 
annual  meeting.  The  business  of  the  association  is 
controlled  by  the  board  of  directors  and  officers,  who 
appoint  a  local  manager,  and  also,  at  destination,  a 
receiver  or  general  consignee.  The  local  manager  looks 
after  details  at  the  shipping  point,  such  as  ordering  cars, 
checking  the  packages  from  the  farmers'  waggons  into 
car,  giving  receipts  for  them,  and  making  up  a  detailed 
manifest  of  the  shipments  loaded  into  car,  which  manifest 
accompanies  the  car  to  destination,  and  gives  the  name  of 
the  shipper  and  commission  merchant  to  whom  consigned. 
The  shippers  are  given  the  privilege  of  consigning  their 
shipments  to  whatever  commission  firm  they  choose,  and 
the  packages  are  so  marked.  The  way-bill  shows  the  car- 
load to  be  consigned  to  the  general  consignee,  who  meets 
it  at  destination,  pays  the  railroad  company  the  freight 
charges,  which  are  assessed  on  car-load  basis,  and  makes 
delivery  to  representatives  of  the  different  commission 
houses,  who  will  be  on  hand  with  waggons.  He  then 
adds  to  the  freight  charge  his  charges  for  handling, 
prorates  the  amount,  and  fixes  a  package  rate  in  propor- 
tion to  the  size  and  contents.  The  commission  merchant 


THE   « GENERAL   CONSIGNEE"  231 

renders  a  bill  of  sale,  deducting  the  various  items  of  ex- 
pense, such  as  commission  of  10  per  cent.,  freight  charges 
on  package  basis,  cartage,  etc.,  and  remits  direct  to  the 
shipper  by  cheque  or  express  order.  The  general  con- 
signee, in  collecting  from  the  commission  men  the  amount 
due  in  respect  to  the  railroad  charges  already  paid  by 
him,  and,  also,  for  his  own  services,  makes  a  small  addi- 
tional charge  on  behalf  of  the  association,  to  enable  it  to 
meet  cost  of  management,  etc.  Supposing,  for  instance, 
that  the  railroad  freight  comes  to  $40  per  car,  and  that 
the  charge  for  his  own  services  is  $4  per  car,  making 
a  total  of  $44,  he  collects  an  amount  which  will  ag- 
gregate $50  per  car,  remitting  $6  to  the  central  organ- 
ization. 

The  advantages  of  this  system  are  (1)  that  the  farmer 
is  relieved  of  much  trouble  in  shipping  his  consignments ; 
is  able  to  gain  the  full  advantage  of  car-load  rates ;  is 
sure  of  his  goods  being  properly  looked  after  on  arrival  at 
destination  ;  is  certain  of  honest  returns  ;  and  is  led  by 
all  these  considerations  to  increase  his  crop  from  year  to 
year ;  (2)  the  railroad  company  gets  more  freight  to  handle ; 
it  is  saved  the  expense  of  loading  and  unloading ;  and  it 
effects  an  economy  in  dealing  with  one  or  two  persons  in- 
stead of  many  in  regard  to  the  collection  of  freight  charges 
and  other  matters  of  detail. 

From  this  association  at  Cobden  have  sprung  a  number 
of  others ;  and  as  an  indication  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
car-load  business  done  by  them  I  may  mention  that  the 
average  number  of  cars  per  annum  dealt  with  by  five  of 
these  organizations  works  out  as  follows :  Cobden,  700 ; 
Anna,  500 ;  MaKanda,  350 ;  Villa  Ridge,  300 ;  Balcom, 
100.  The  extent  of  the  business  done  is  still  more 
clearly  shown  by  the  following  table,  which  gives  the 
quantities  of  fruit  and  vegetables  forwarded  from  Southern 
Illinois  (Villa  Ridge  to  Carbondale  inclusive)  during  the 


232 


THE   UNITED   STATES 


last  eight  years,  and  the  freight  receipts  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  Company  in  respect  thereto : — 


YEAR. 

QUANTITIES. 

RECEIPTS. 

Ibs. 

Dollars. 

1896 

40,588,200 

76,355.67 

1897 

58,239,800 

104,959.74 

1898 

36,095,500 

64,885.52 

1899 

32,389,100 

57,297.23 

1900 

31,865,300 

54,948.49 

1901 

43,322,600 

77,023.43 

1902 

40,483,200 

63,361.89 

1903* 

32,315,900 

51,186.42 

Total 


315,299,600 


550,018.39 


*  Nine  months. 

The  schedules  of  fruit  and  vegetable  trains  from 
Southern  Illinois  points  to  Chicago  show  that  the  speed, 
including  stops,  is  twenty  miles  per  hour,  and,  not  includ- 
ing stops,  twenty-one  miles  per  hour.  In  1902,  however, 
the  train  scheduled  from  Centralia  ran  at  a  speed  of 
twenty-five  miles  per  hour. 

From  points  in  the  Southern  States  the  returns  in  re- 
spect to  freight  tonnage  and  receipts  give  the  following 
totals  for  the  "  seasons "  of  the  undermentioned  years — 
the  "  season "  covering  in  each  instance  the  months  from 
March  to  July,  inclusive : — 


YEAR. 

QUANTITIES. 

RECEIPTS. 

Ibs. 

Dollars. 

1896 

39,371,192 

227,304.84 

1897 

35,622,900 

222,342.03 

1898 

52,989,179 

273,532.35 

1899 

29,622,642              159,603.66 

1900 

37,886,397 

188,600.49 

1901 

38,450,506 

186,095.71 

1902 

40,829,398 

210,488.72 

1903 

41,909,964 

236,139.71 

Total  . 

316,682,178 

704,107.51 

At   several   places   situated   on   the  Southern  lines  a 


MAGNITUDE   OF  THE   TRAFFIC  233 

speciality  is  made  of  some  particular  product,  as,  for  in- 
stance, strawberries  at  Independence,  La.;  radishes  at 
Roseland,  La.;  tomatoes  at  Crystal  Springs,  Miss.;  and 
cucumbers  at  Canton,  Miss.  In  many  of  the  districts 
served  by  these  Southern  lines  there  are  associations 
operating  on  the  same  principle  as  those  in  Illinois  already 
mentioned. 

As  a  further  indication  of  the  extent  of  this  traffic 
from  the  South  to  the  North  I  give,  also,  the  number  of 
extra  cars,  loaded  with  fruit  and  vegetables,  from  stations 
on  the  Southern  lines,  and  from  points  in  Illinois,  handled 
for  the  American  Express  Company,  and  necessitating  the 
running  of  special  trains  almost  daily  during  the  season, 
these  cars  being  in  addition  to  the  tonnage  hauled  on  the 
freight  trains  as  shown  above  : — 

YEAR.  NO.  OF  CARS. 

1897  .  .  .  187 

1898  .  .  .  291 

1899  .  .  .  325 

1900  .  .  .  380 

1901  .  .  .  454 

1902  .  .  .  465 

1903  .  .  .  565 

The  significance  of  all  these  figures  will  be  better  under- 
stood when  it  is  remembered  that  there  has  been  a  vast 
change  in  the  products  of  the  South  during  the  past 
twenty  or  twenty-five  years.  Prior  to  that  time  cotton 
was  the  staple  product,  and  no  attempt  was  made  to 
cultivate  other  crops  to  any  extent.  But  the  last  two 
decades  have  seen  a  great  resort  not  only  to  the  produc- 
tion of  fruit  and  vegetables,  but  to  the  growing  of  crops 
of  all  kinds,  including  grain  and  hay,  so  that  cultivators 
are  now  no  longer  dependent  mainly  on  a  single  article. 
More  attention  is,  also,  being  given  to  stock  grazing,  and 
dairying  has  been  taken  up  in  New  Orleans,  the  adapt- 


234  THE   UNITED   STATES 

ability  of  Southern  soil  to  a  diversity  of  crops  and 
purposes  being  now  taken  full  advantage  of;  while  the 
general  prosperity  of  what  were  once  purely  agricultural 
districts  has  been  very  greatly  increased  by  a  further 
rapid  development  of  industrial  enterprises. 

I  may  add,  by  way  of  conclusion,  that  the  figures  I 
have  given  do  not  fully  represent  the  sum  total  of  the 
fruit  carried,  for,  irrespective  of  all  this,  the  Illinois 
Central  also  handles  a  very  large  traffic  in  bananas  and 
other  tropical  fruits,  imported  by  way  of  New  Orleans. 
This  makes  it  necessary  for  us  to  have  a  large  equipment 
of  cars  especially  designed  for  handling  fruit.  As  going 
to  show  the  extent  of  this  business,  I  beg  to  call  your 
attention  to  the  fact  that  on  June  30th,  1903,  the  Illinois 
Central  R.R.  Co.  had  in  service  : — 

NUMBER.  CAPACITY  IN  TONS. 

Fruit  Cars        .  .         .     1,516        ...        42,172 

Refrigerator  Cars         .         .     2,037        ...        58,319 

That  is  to  say,  the  equipment  available  for  this  purpose, 
if  used  for  no  other,  could  carry  over  100,000  tons  at 
each  loading  of  the  cars. 

This  most  instructive  story — for  which  I  have 
to  express  my  cordial  acknowledgments  to  Mr. 
Stuyvesant  Fish  and  Mr.  Hudson — brings  out, 
I  think,  with  great  force  and  clearness  the  fact 
that  the  agriculturists  in  the  United  States,  as 
in  the  countries  of  Europe  with  which  I  have 
already  dealt,  have  not  been  slow  in  benefiting 
from  the  latest  developments  of  agricultural 
science ;  that  to  this  cause  is  due,  in  part,  the 
great  expansion  in  agriculture  brought  about 


WHAT   THE   STORY   SHOWS  235 

there ;  that  the  best  of  results  for  traders  and 
railways  have  followed  the  adoption  by  the 
former  of  combination  principles  which  enabled 
the  one  to  work  hand  in  hand  with  the  other, 
to  their  mutual  advantage ;  and  that  cultivators 
in  Illinois  and  the  Southern  States,  at  least, 
have  displayed  great  readiness  generally  in  adapt- 
ing their  methods  alike  to  fresh  openings  and 
to  changing  conditions. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
ARGENTINA 

IN  an  interesting  sketch  of  the  position  of 
agriculture  in  Argentina,  published  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture  for  June, 
1903,  Mr.  Herbert  Gibson,  vice-President  of 
the  Argentina  Rural  Society,  showed  that 
several  special  circumstances  had  combined  to 
give  to  Argentina  the  position  she  now  occu- 
pies as  a  food  producer — especially  for  British 
markets. 

The  crisis  of  1890  drove  the  estandero  "  back 
to  the  land  "  ;  and  the  outbreak  of  foot  and 
mouth  disease  in  Argentina,  which  closed  our 
ports  to  his  live-stock,  was  a  blessing  in  disguise 
to  him,  since  it  led  to  the  inception  of  the 
chilled  meat  trade,  and  the  substantial  develop- 
ment of  the  dairy  business,  the  latter  being, 
also,  greatly  facilitated  by  reason  of  the  drought 
in  Australia,  which  gave  Argentina  a  better 
chance  with  her  exports.  Another  most  im- 
portant element  in  the  spread  of  agriculture  in 

236 


BUTTER   A   LA   BASQUE  237 

the  country  has  been  the  expansion  of  the 
Argentine  railways,  the  whole  of  which,  with 
a  few  exceptions,  are  owned  by  English  com- 
panies. "  Throughout  the  agricultural  zone," 
says  Mr.  Gibson,  "  new  branches  are  being 
made,  carrying  the  colonist  and  the  tools  of 
his  craft  to  virgin  lands,  and  putting  him  in 
touch  with  his  buying  market.  Every  lineal 
mile  of  new  railway  calls  15,000  acres  of  land 
into  cultivation." 

But  the  point  with  which  we  are  here  mainly 
concerned  is  the  evidence  afforded  as  to  the 
effective  part  that  organization  has  played  in 
the  results  to  which  Argentina  has  attained,  and 
concerning  this  I  venture  to  quote  the  following 
passages  from  Mr.  Gibson's  contribution  : — 

Fifteen  years  ago  the  traveller  in  Argentina  would 
arrive  at  an  estancia,  where  the  mobs  of  cattle  numbered 
thousands,  to  find  that  he  had  to  drink  tea  without  milk, 
and  mark  as  a  token  of  honour  to  the  guest  a  tin  of  Danish 
salt  butter  on  the  table.  The  dairy  supply  of  the  great 
city  of  Buenos  Aires  was  in  the  hands  of  Basques,  who 
milked  their  cows  in  unclean  yards,  and  rode  off  in  the 
morning  astride  a  jangling  pannier  of  tin  cans,  the  cream 
churning  into  butter  as  the  horse  trotted  through  the 
lanes  of  the  suburbs.  Thus  they  cantered  into  town  to 
dispense  their  wares  from  door  to  door,  and  their  sole 
competitor  was  the  pedestrian  cow-herd,  who  drove  his 
kine  through  the  busiest  streets,  and,  in  answer  to  the  hail 
of  the  housewife,  supplied  milk  "fresh  from  the  cow." 


238  ARGENTINA 

The  process  of  churning  by  equitation  demanded  the 
roughest  of  trots,  and  the  cowboy  of  Argentina  describes 
the  rude  gait  associated  with  this  interesting  function  as 
a  trote  kchero — a  milkman's  trot. 

Men  who  are  still  young  have  seen  a  horse-hide  vessel 
containing  cream  secured  to  a  rough  sled,  and  dragged 
at  break-neck  speed  over  the  pampa.  When  the  wild 
chase  ended,  and  the  hide  vessel  was  opened,  butter  was 
revealed. 

A  few  years  ago  a  leading  estandero  took  up  the  trade 
of  the  dairy  supply  of  Buenos  Aires.  He  erected  buildings 
on  his  estate,  and  equipped  them  with  separators,  refriger- 
ators, and  all  the  most  modern  appliances  of  dairy  science  ; 
introduced  milking  herds  of  which  the  Dutch  Holstein 
and  the  Shorthorn  were  the  predominant  breeds ;  opened 
numerous  supply  stores  in  the  city,  whose  cool  white-tiled 
rooms  speedily  became  popular  with  the  man  in  the  street, 
and  in  a  year  the  Basque,  with  his  clattering  cans  and  the 
street  cow,  had  faded  into  the  past. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  dairy  trade.  The  drop 
in  wool,  particularly  in  the  strong  cross-herds  which  con- 
stitute the  bulk  of  the  Argentine  wool  parcel,  induced 
live-stock  breeders  to  give  more  attention  to  their  herds 
of  cattle.  The  outbreak  of  foot  and  mouth  disease  and 
its  effect  on  live-stock  trade  was  a  further  incentive  to  the 
estandero  to  study  the  profitableness  of  the  dairy  business. 
Central  butter  factories,  receiving  cream  either  by  direct 
purchase  or  on  the  co-operative  system,  were  established 
in  many  districts.  In  1898  the  production  of  butter 
barely  exceeded  the  local  consumption.  In  1902  over 
4,000  tons  were  exported,  almost  entirely  to  the  United 
Kingdom.  The  importance  of  producing  a  uniform 
quality  has  made  the  farm  dairy  and  churn  give  place  to 
the  central  factory,  and  the  result  has  been  a  corresponding 


LARGE   EXPORTS   AND    HIGHER   PRICES     239 

improvement  in  the  market  value.  In  1900  Argentine 
butter  was  sold  at  a  price  inferior  to  that  obtained  for 
the  French,  Dutch,  Danish,  Swedish,  and  Australasian 
article ;  to-day  Argentine  butter  obtains  a  price  second 
only  to  that  of  Denmark  and  Sweden. 


CHAPTER  XX 
CANADA 

IN  the  twenty-eighth  annual  report,  for  the 
year   ending  December  31st,   1902,  of  the 
Ontario  Agricultural  College  and  Experimental 
Farm,  the  President,  Mr.  James  Mills,  writes  :— - 

The  condition  and  prospects  of  agriculturists  in  this 
country  are  improving.  The  farmers  of  Ontario,  not  to 
speak  of  the  other  provinces  of  the  Dominion,  are  in  a  much 
better  position  now  than  they  were  fifteen  or  sixteen  years 
ago.  They  are  on  a  higher  plane  of  intelligence ;  they  dress 
better  and  live  better ;  they  are  getting  a  larger  share  of 
the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life  for  their  labour;  and 
as  a  class  they  stand  higher  socially  than  they  did  in  the 
years  gone  by.  Many  agencies  have  been  contributing  to 
these  gratifying  results — the  public  and  High  Schools  all 
over  the  province,  the  Agricultural  College,  the  Dairy 
Schools,  Travelling  Dairies,  Farmers'  Institutes,  Women's 
Institutes,  Live-Stock,  Dairy,  and  Poultry  Associations, 
Entomological  Society,  and  Fruit  Growers'  Association, 
Winter  Fairs,  other  great  fairs,  provincial  sales  of  live- 
stock, and  the  annual  distribution  by  the  Minister  of 
Agriculture  to  all  members  of  Farmers1  Institutes  through- 
out the  province  of  free  copies  of  all  reports  and  bulletins 
issued  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  the  Agricultural 

240 


AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETIES  NEW  AND  OLD     241 

College,  the  Farmers1  Institutes,  and  the  various  associa- 
tions under  the  control  of  the  Minister — many  agencies 
and  a  great  work. 

Of  these  various  agencies  the  one  that  has, 
perhaps,  exercised  the  most  direct  and  the  most 
powerful  influence  in  recent  years,  in  giving  a 
new  impetus  to  the  development  of  agriculture 
in  the  Dominion,  is  the  Farmers'  Institute,  with 
its  equally  successful  off-shoot,  the  Womens' 
Institute. 

In  Canada,  as  in  most  of  the  European 
countries  already  dealt  with,  there  came  a  time 
when  the  ordinary  type  of  agricultural  society 
was  found  no  longer  equal  to  the  practical  re- 
quirements of  the  day.  But  this  conclusion  was 
arrived  at  not  without  good  experience  of  the 
institution  in  question.  There  had  been  agricul- 
tural societies  in  Canada  since  1798,  and  the  old 
records  relate  how,  in  those  early  days  of  Colonial 
history,  the  farmers  would  meet  together  at  a 
monthly  dinner,  and  indulge  in  much  conviviality 
—and  also  in  much  snuff-taking — as  an  accom- 
paniment to  their  exchange  of  views  on  the  best 
way  in  which  the  interests  of  agriculture  could 
be  advanced. 

In  1830  an  Act  was  passed  in  Ontario  which 
provided  that  when  an  agricultural  society  was 
organized  in  any  district  for  the  purpose  of  im- 


242  CANADA 

porting  valuable  live-stock,  grain,  grass  -  seed, 
useful  implements,  or  whatever  else  might  con- 
duce to  the  improvement  of  agriculture,  the 
Government  might  grant  £200  to  assist,  provided 
the  society  raised  £50.  Under  the  operation  of 
this  Act  the  formation  of  district  societies  spread 
so  far  that  in  1846  there  was  organized  a  Pro- 
vincial Board  of  Agriculture,  whose  function  it 
would  be  to  hold  provincial  exhibitions,  the 
first  of  these  being  at  Toronto  in  that  same  year. 
Then  the  local  agricultural  societies,  which  began 
to  get  more  numerous,  took  to  holding  exhibi- 
tions on  their  own  account,  and  the  growth  of 
the  general  movement  led  to  the  passing  of  the 
Agricultural  and  Arts  Act,  which  was  to  the 
following  effect : — 

The  objects  of  District  and  Township  Societies  shall  be 
to  encourage  improvement  in  agriculture,  horticulture, 
manufactures,  and  the  useful  arts : 

(a)  By  importing  and  otherwise  procuring  seeds,  plants, 
and  animals  of  new  and  valuable  kinds ; 

(b)  By  offering  prizes  for  essays  on  questions  of  scien- 
tific inquiry  relating  to  agriculture,  horticulture,  manu- 
factures, and  the  useful  arts  ; 

(c)  By  awarding  premiums  for  excellence  in  the  raising 
or  introduction  of  stock,  for  the  invention  or  improve- 
ment  of   agricultural   or   horticultural    implements    and 
machinery,  for  the  production  of  grain  and  of  all  kinds  of 
vegetables,  plants,  flowers,  and  fruits,  and  generally  for 


FARMERS'   INSTITUTES  243 

excellence  in  any  agricultural  or  horticultural  production 
or  operation,  article  of  manufacture,  or  work  of  art ; 

(d)  By  carrying  on  experiments  in  the  growing  of 
crops,  the  feeding  of  stock,  or  any  other  branch  of  agri- 
culture, or  by  testing  any  system  of  farming  through 
arrangement  with  one  or  more  of  the  farmers  of  the 
municipality  in  which  the  society  is  organized. 

But  in  actual  practice  the  said  societies  rarely 
went  beyond  the  powers  conferred  upon  them 
by  section  "  (c)  "  in  regard  to  the  holding  of  ex- 
hibitions, and  these,  in  the  words  of  the  Minister 
of  Agriculture  for  Ontario,  soon  degenerated 
into  "  spectacular  amusements,"  after  the  fashion 
of  country  fairs,  the  real  interests  of  agriculture 
being  put  into  the  background.  Another  au- 
thority on  the  subject  wrote  not  long  since : — 

I  go  to  nine  or  ten  exhibitions  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  it  is  seldom  we  find  a  judge  who  really  knows 
the  difference  between  a  Shropshire,  a  Hampshire-down, 
and  a  Southdown. 

Agriculture  could  not  be  expected  to  derive 
much  real  stimulus  from  societies  conducted  on 
such  lines  as  these,  and  it  was  a  happy  inspira- 
tion that  led  to  the  starting  in  Canada  of  the 
type  of  Farmers'  Institute  which  was  already 
doing  good  work  in  the  United  States.  This 
new  organization,  however,  was  to  supplement 
rather  than  supplant  the  agricultural  societies, 
and  it  has  certainly  worked  along  lines  of  activity 


244  CANADA 

that  are  all  its  own.  To-day  it  is  being  steadily 
spread  throughout  Canada,  much  activity  being 
shown  in  this  direction  by  the  Dominion  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  which  during  1902 
furnished  speakers  for  systematic  work  under- 
taken with  a  view  to  promoting  the  establish- 
ment of  Farmers'  Institutes  in  Quebec,  Nova 
Scotia,  Prince  Edward  Island,  New  Brunswick, 
the  North-west  Territories,  and  British  Colum- 
bia. But,  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the 
general  system,  it  may  suffice  if  I  deal  with  the 
growth  of  the  movement  in  the  provinces  of 
Ontario  and  New  Brunswick. 

The  "  Rules  and  Regulations "  approved  in 
1895  by  the  Lieutenant-Governor  in  Council 
for  the  guidance  and  direction  of  Farmers'  In- 
stitutes in  Ontario  set  out  (among  other  things) 
that— 

The  Ontario  Legislature  has  voted  an  appropriation  of 
$2,200  for  Farmers1  Institutes  for  a  grant  of  $25  to  one 
Institute  in  each  district,  on  condition  that  an  equal  sum 
be  granted  by  the  County  Council  or  the  municipalities  in 
which  the  Institute  is  organized,  and  on  such  further  con- 
ditions as  may  be  imposed  by  regulations  of  the  Minister 
of  Agriculture. 

The  object  of  each  local  institute  shall  be  the  dis- 
semination of  agricultural  knowledge  in  its  district  and 
the  development  of  local  talent.  The  officers  shall  endea- 
vour to  bring  the  rank  and  file  of  the  farmers  into  touch 
with  the  most  successful  local  men,  that  the  masses  may 


OBJECTS  AND  OPERATION  245 

become  more  conversant  with  the  best  and  most  profitable 
methods  of  farming,  stock  raising,  dairying,  fruit  culture, 
and  all  branches  of  business  connected  with  the  industry 
of  agriculture. 

Each  Institute  is  required  to  hold  at  least 
five  meetings  every  year  in  different  places 
in  the  district  in  which  it  operates,  and  at 
these  meetings,  except  in  the  case  of  the 
annual  meeting,  papers  are  to  be  read  or  ad- 
dresses delivered  on  questions  relating  to  agri- 
culture, horticulture,  dairying,  or  kindred  sub- 
jects. It  is  stipulated  that  "free  discussion 
shall  be  encouraged,"  and  to  this  end  the  prac- 
tice is  to  make  the  papers  short  and  suggestive 
rather  than  complete,  so  as  to  encourage  a 
general  exchange  of  views.  It  is  further  laid 
down  that  "all  institutes  organized  under  the 
Act  shall  be  strictly  non-partisan  and  non-sec- 
tarian in  every  phase  of  their  work,  and  no  insti- 
tute shall  be  operated  in  the  direct  interest  of 
any  party,  sect,  or  society,  but  tor  the  equal 
good  of  all  citizens  and  the  farming  com- 
munity." 

All  money  received,  whether  as  members' 
fees,  legislative  grant,  grant  from  the  County 
Councils  or  from  municipalities,  or  otherwise, 
is  to  be  spent  within  the  district  in  which  the 
institute  operates  (1)  to  defray  actual  expenses 


246  CANADA 

of  meetings;  (2)  to  employ  suitable  persons  to 
address  meetings ;  (3)  to  assist  in  circulating 
agricultural,  horticultural,  live-stock,  and  dairy 
literature  or  periodicals  among  the  members,  or 
to  establish  a  circulating  agricultural  library  for 
the  use  of  members ;  or  (4)  to  remunerate  the 
secretary  and  others  for  services  rendered. 

Founded  on  these  general  lines,  Farmers' 
Institutes  have  made  such  progress  in  the 
province  that  they  comprised,  on  June  30th, 
1903,  a  total  membership  of  23,754.  The 
number  of  meetings  held  during  the  previous 
twelve  months  had  been  837,  and  the  number 
of  papers  read  or  addresses  delivered  was  3,377. 
The  meetings  are  often  attended  by  official 
delegates  whose  expenses  are  paid  by  the  Pro- 
vincial Government,  but  every  effort  is  made  to 
stimulate  local  interest  and  local  energies. 

As  regards  the  results  obtained,  the  Superin- 
tendent of  Farmers'  Institutes  for  the  Province 
of  Ontario  says  in  his  report  for  1902-1903  :— 

Through  the  Institute  it  is  our  object  to  help  the 
farmers  towards  a  knowledge  of  better  methods  of  farm 
management.  By  free  discussion  at  these  meetings  the 
farmer  gets  new  ideas  in  regard  to  his  work,  which  en- 
ables him  to  solve  problems  that  have  worried  him  on  his 
farm.  He  is  also  advised  of  new  varieties  of  plants  and 
animals,  and  is  thus  enabled  to  improve  his  live-stock  and 
the  feed  which  is  necessary  for  their  development. 


TOPICS   FOR  DISCUSSION  247 

The  variety  of  subjects  dealt  with  is  indicated 
by  the  following  examples  of  the  topics  dis- 
cussed : — Agriculture :  "  The  Clover  Family  " ; 
"Clover  the  Key  to  Successful  Farming";  "Barn- 
yard Manure";  "Soil  Cultivation"  ;  "  Feeds  and 
Feeding";  "Fodder  Crops";  "Selection  and 
Care  of  Seeds."  Horticulture :  "  Spraying  an 
Apple  Orchard  "  ;  "  How  we  Exterminated  the 
Black-knot  in  our  Township " ;  "  Planting  and 
Care  of  an  Orchard";  "Growing  Apples"; 
"Handling  and  Marketing  of  Fruit";  "Small 
Fruits  "  ;  "  The  Farmer's  Fruit  Garden."  Live- 
stock: "Breeding,  Selecting,  and  Feeding  Cattle 
for  Export";  "The  Beef  Animal  from  the 
Butcher's  and  Feeder's  Standpoint";  "Horse- 
raising,  and  the  Requirements  of  the  Market " ; 
"Present  Prospects  of  the  Hay  Trade  "  ;  "  How 
to  Improve  our  Live-stock."  Dairying:  "Co- 
operation in  Dairying  "  ;  "  Prevention  of  Milk 
Fever  in  Cows  " ;  "  A  Practical  Talk  on  Dairy 
Cows."  Poultry  :  "Raising  and  Fattening  Poul- 
try for  Export";  "A  Desirable  Poultry  House"  ; 
"The  Egg — Through  the  Incubator  to  the  Home 
or  Foreign  Market." 

Exhibits  likely  to  be  of  general  interest  are 
also  shown  at  the  meetings,  and  on  this  point 
the  Superintendent  further  says,  in  his  report : — 

Besides  the   regular  subjects  discussed  at  the  meetings 


248  CANADA 

we  made  a  speciality  last  year  of  "  good  seeds.11  Samples 
of  good  and  bad  seeds,  in  small  bottles,  were  furnished 
the  delegates,  together  with  large  charts  showing  the  per- 
centage of  weed  seeds  found  in  commercial  samples  as 
ordinarily  sold  by  our  merchants.  It  was  appalling  to 
find  that  in  many  instances  seed  was  being  offered  for 
sale  in  Ontario  containing  millions  of  weed  seeds  of 
twenty  or  more  varieties.  Our  delegates  were  instructed 
to  point  out  the  differences  in  good  and  bad  seed,  and 
to  impress  upon  the  farmers  of  Ontario  the  necessity  for 
using  only  good  seed,  if  they  would  keep  their  farms  clean. 

The  institutes  fulfil,  also,  a  social  purpose,  the 
reading  of  papers  on  severely  practical  topics 
being  relieved  by  others  on  matters  of  more 
general  interest,  by  papers  written  by  ladies,  and 
by  music  and  recitations  for  the  special  purpose 
of  attracting  the  attendance  of  wives  and  daugh- 
ters. In  fact,  an  American  writer,  Prof.  A.  J. 
Cook,  says  in  an  article  on  "  The  Ideal  Farmers' 
Institute :  How  to  hold  it  in  your  Neighbour- 
hood " : — "  To  secure  the  maximum  good  the 
institute  should  be  largely  attended  by  earnest, 
enterprising  farmers,  with  their  wives  and 
families.  .  .  .  The  man  who  attends  an  institute 
without  his  wife  gains  only  a  partial  benefit." 

But  the  Canadian  ladies  were  not  willing  to 
play  simply  a  subordinate  part  in  the  movement. 
When,  in  1897,  the  Farmers'  Institute  had  be- 
come an  established  success,  the  wives  and 


WOMEN'S   INSTITUTES  249 

daughters  set  up  "  Womens'  Institutes "  as  a 
subsidiary  organization,  instead  of  contenting 
themselves  with  imparting  additional  attractions 
to  the  gatherings  of  the  men  ;  and  these  further 
institutes  have  been  no  less  successful  than  the 
others. 

They  started  in  quite  a  small  way,  but  in  the 
year  ending  June  30th,  1903,  they  had  a  total 
paid-up  membership  in  the  province  of  4,583. 
The  meetings  are  held  in  the  houses  of  the  mem- 
bers— so  as  to  save  the  expense  of  hiring  halls — 
or  sometimes  the  use  of  a  schoolroom,  or  even 
of  a  church,  will  be  granted ;  and  the  nature 
of  the  proceedings  may  be  gathered  from  the 
following  statement  of  the  "  objects  "  in  view : — 

To  promote  the  knowledge  of  household  science  which 
shall  lead  to  improvement  in  household  architecture,  with 
special  attention  to  home  sanitation,  to  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  hygienic  and  economic  value  of  foods  and 
fuels,  and  to  a  more  scientific  care  of  children,  with  a  view 
to  raising  the  general  standard  of  health  of  our  people. 
Mutual  improvement  by  an  interchange  of  views  by  essays, 
lectures,  or  other  means  found  practicable,  upon  all  sub- 
jects pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  our  homes  and  families. 

The  utility  of  these  essays  and  lectures  must 
stand  unquestioned,  judging  from  the  exam- 
ples contained  in  an  illustrated  Handbook  on 
Womens  Institutes,  issued  by  the  Ontario  De- 


250  CANADA 

partment  of  Agriculture — an  admirable  publica- 
tion of  which  anyone  disposed  to  introduce  an 
additional  interest  into  the  daily  life  of  farmers' 
wives  and  daughters  in  England  may  be  strongly 
advised  to  beg  a  copy  from  that  Department. 

From  two  of  the  papers  contained  in  this 
volume  I  should  like  to  give  a  few  lines,  as 
illustrating  the  particular  purpose  the  movement 
is  intended  to  serve.  Writing  on  "Women's 
Institutes,"  Miss  Blanche  Haddock  (Guelph) 
says : — 

If  a  woman  is  to  rule  wisely  and  well  in  her  own  home, 
it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  she  come  in  contact  with 
others,  that  she  should  keep  in  touch  with  the  great 
outside  world.  .  .  .  Since  the  formation  of  Farmers'  In- 
stitutes farming  has  received  a  new  impetus.  Men  are 
now  becoming  proud  of  their  profession,  and  the  old  cry 
of  "  drudgery  "  is  not  so  often  heard.  However,  this  cry 
is  still  heard  in  the  farm  home.  Statistics  prove  that 
more  women  in  the  country  go  insane  than  in  any  other 
class  in  the  community.  This  is  not  so  much  from  over- 
work, but  because  of  the  monotony  of  woman's  work  on 
the  farm.  The  same  work  is  done  day  in  and  day  out, 
with  no  other  thought  than  getting  one  thing  done  to  get 
to  the  next.  The  well-known  line,  "  The  daily  round,  the 
common  task,  will  furnish  all  we  need  to  ask,"  may  be  true 
enough  if  we  could  realize  the  wonderful  forces  in  nature 
with  which  we  are  coming  in  contact  in  the  daily  round  of 
work.  .  .  . 

At  the  meetings  of  the  Women's  Institutes  all  subjects 
for  the  uplifting  of  the  home  and  the  bettering  of  house- 


WOMAN'S   WORK   ON   THE   FARM  251 

keeping  methods  are  discussed.  When  the  organization 
of  these  institutes  was  first  discussed  it  was  feared  by 
a  great  many  that  the  movement  would  not  be  favoured 
by  the  women  throughout  the  country.  So  far  as  my 
experience  goes,  I  find  that  the  women  throughout  the 
Province  of  Ontario  are  taking  up  the  work  very  enthusi- 
astically. They  feel  that  the  time  has  come  for  new  and 
improved  methods  of  housekeeping,  and  are  looking  for- 
ward to  the  meetings  of  the  institutes  as  a  means  of 
accomplishing  this  end. 

Then  in  a  paper  on  "  Objects  and  Benefits  of 
Women's  Institutes,"  Mrs.  J.  Gardner  (Kemble), 
says : — 

Our  farmers1  wives,  aside  from  their  attendance  at 
church,  get  out  none  too  often,  but  coming  in  contact  with 
other  lives  brings  new  trains  of  thought,  and  relieves  that 
tension  sure  to  follow  the  pursuit  of  only  one  kind  of  work, 
and  that  made  up  of  little  things.  .  .  . 

To  make  a  success  of  farming  there  must  be  co-operation 
between  the  farmer  and  his  wife.  I  know  of  no  other 
occupation  where  the  wife  must  so  necessarily  be  a  co- 
partner in  the  business  with  her  husband.  ...  I  once 
heard  a  man  say  he  now  owned  dollars  where  he  would  not 
have  owned  cents  if  it  had  not  been  for  a  good  wife.  .  .  . 
How  is  it  that  the  women  of  Denmark  and  Germany  have 
gained  the  reputation  of  being  the  best  housekeepers  in 
the  world  ?  .  .  .  Why  may  we  not,  as  women  of  Canada, 
at  the  beginning  of  this  bright  and  new  century,  increase 
in  power  and  prosperity  in  the  same  ratio  as  they  have 
done  ? 

There  are  so  many  interests  about  the  farm  closely  con- 
nected with  the  work  of  the  thrifty  housewife  that  they 
are  almost  a  part  of  her  work  as  well.  It  is  not  necessary 


252  CANADA 

for  women  to  work  in  the  field,  but  there  is  a  distinct 
woman's  work  in  the  country  and  on  the  farm.  .  .  .  One 
thing  we  may  be  if  we  choose,  and  that  is  good  farmers'* 
wives.  .  .  .  The  young  girls  who,  during  the  beginning 
of  the  new  century,  shall  come  to  preside  over  the  agricul- 
tural homesteads  of  Ontario  will  be  far  better  fitted  to 
assume  the  responsibilities  than  were  a  majority  of  their 
mothers  when  they  came  to  preside  over  the  new  home 
that  marriage  gave  them.  This  is  especially  due  to  the 
different  educational  institutions  that  have  been  started  in 
this  country.  .  .  . 

Let  the  farmers  and  their  wives  unite  in  general  demand 
for  mutual  advantage,  and  not,  as  it  has  been,  a  one-sided 
development.  With  that  end  in  view  let  us  place  before 
ourselves  a  high  ideal  and  strive  to  attain  it.  Develop  a 
fondness  for  our  calling,  for  what  we  love  to  do,  and  we 
will  do  well. 

These  extracts  may,  perhaps,  convey  a  suffi- 
ciently clear  insight  into  the  spirit  with  which 
the  formation  of  "  Women's  Institutes "  has 
been  taken  up  in  the  Dominion  as  a  sequel  to 
the  "  Farmers'  Institutes,"  and  the  combination 
of  the  two  represents  a  phase  of  agricultural 
progress  which,  with  the  other  agencies  spoken 
of  at  the  outset,  is  bringing  about  the  noticeable 
improvement  in  the  condition  and  prospects  of 
the  Canadian  farmer.  And  this  improvement 
would  be  advanced  still  further  if  the  ordinary 
agricultural  societies  of  Canada  could  be  induced 
to  become  less  recreative  and  more  practical,  by 


HUNGER  AND  THIRST  FOR  INFORMATION     253 

joining  heartily  in  that  task  of  promoting  the 
higher  education  of  farmers  which  constitutes 
the  key-note  of  the  conspicuous  success  to 
which  the  Institute  system  has  attained. 
Speaking  on  these  topics  at  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Canadian  Association  of  Fairs  and 
Exhibitions,  held  in  the  city  of  Toronto  in 
February,  1902,  the  Hon.  John  Dryden, 
Minister  for  Agriculture,  said : — 

The  gentlemen  looking  into  my  face  to-day  perhaps  do 
not  realize  as  I  do  the  hunger  and  thirst  that  exist  for 
information  all  over  the  country — it  is  not  for  amusement, 
but  for  information.  If  these  agricultural  societies  will 
undertake  to  give  this  information,  they  will  be  ten  times 
as  popular  as  they  are  to-day,  or  ever  have  been. 

This  is  the  work  that  has  been  undertaken  in  these 
latter  days  by  the  Farmers1  Institute  system.  The  Farmers'1 
Institute  and  the  agricultural  society  should  be  dovetailed 
together.  What  does  an  agricultural  society  undertake  to 
do  by  bringing  together  these  animals  and  presenting  the 
best  products  ?  Some  people  seem  to  think  the  object  is 
that  they  may  give  prizes  to  this  man  and  to  the  other ; 
but  the  giving  of  these  prizes  is  only  a  means  that  is 
used  towards  another  end.  The  end  and  object  of  it  all, 
as  contemplated  by  the  framers  of  the  Act,  was  to  present 
the  proper  ideals  to  the  people,  so  that  they  might  know 
exactly  what  was  the  best  thing,  and  what  they  ought  to 
produce  in  the  best  interests  of  the  country.  That  was 
the  idea  contemplated  by  the  framers  of  the  law.  But 
the  agricultural  society  stops  there ;  that  is  all  it  can  do. 
I  can  fancy  a  young  man  who  is  without  information,  but 


254  CANADA 

has  become  interested  in  agriculture,  looking  on  and 
saying:  "I  should  like  to  know  how  to  produce  them, 
but  your  society  does  not  give  the  information.  I  should 
like  to  know  what  they  mean  by  putting  that  animal  first. 
The  other  one  looks  better  to  me — but  I  can  get  no  in- 
formation." The  only  way  this  young  man  could  get  the 
information  he  seeks  would  be  to  attend  the  meeting  of 
the  Farmers'*  Institute,  where  these  matters  are  discussed. 
The  Farmers'  Institute,  therefore,  supplements  the  agricul- 
tural society,  and  the  one  ought  to  be  dovetailed  into  the 
other — that  is,  if  you  are  endeavouring  to  reach  the  object 
I  have  set  up  in  my  own  mind  as  being  the  aim  and  desire 
of  every  agricultural  society. 

If,  Mr.  Dryden  continued,  they  found  that 
in  a  certain  section  of  the  country  improvement 
was  needed  along  a  particular  line,  the  exhibition 
should  try  to  improve  the  general  production 
in  such  district  in  the  department  in  question, 
offering  prizes  in  these  classes  only,  and  announc- 
ing lectures  thereon  in  a  building  adjoining  the 
exhibition,  so  that  the  lecturers  could  have 
before  them,  when  they  gave  their  information, 
the  animals  which  had  been  judged.  In  this 
way  the  work  of  agricultural  society  and  insti- 
tute would  be  combined,  and  the  farmer  would 
be  helped  to  get  out  of  the  beaten  track. 
Mr.  Dryden  proceeded  : — 

I  think  that  our  agricultural  societies  ought  to  have 
definite  purposes  before  them,  and  accomplish  in  that  way 
definite  results  for  the  best  interests  of  our  country.  We 


AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETIES'  PURPOSES      255 

should  thus  unify  our  methods  and  raise  the  standard  of 
production.  The  object  to  be  attained  will,  of  course, 
vary  in  different  districts.  In  one  district  it  may  be  that 
the  fruit  interest  is  paramount.  Then  let  your  attention 
be  turned  in  that  direction.  Or  it  may  be  that  the  people 
want  instruction  in  dairying.  A  deputation  of  dairymen 
waited  upon  me  this  morning.  They  said  there  had  never 
been  a  time  in  the  history  of  the  country  when  the  people 
needed  information  on  dairy  subjects  more  than  they  do 
just  now.  They  are  drifting  away  and  becoming  careless 
in  their  methods.  ...  It  is  improvement  in  your  methods 
that  will  lead  to  better  production  all  over  the  country. 

These  remarks  were  made  by  a  Canadian 
for  Canadians,  but  I  commend  them  to  the 
consideration  of  agriculturists  at  home,  with 
this  query :  Are  they  not,  in  the  main,  just  as 
applicable  to  Great  Britain  as  they  are  to  the 
Dominion  of  Canada  ?  And  would  not  Farmers' 
Institutes  and  Women's  Institutes  on  the  Cana- 
dian model,  with  an  improvement  of  the  ordi- 
nary agricultural  societies  to  follow,  be  likely  to 
serve  as  useful  a  purpose  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic  as  on  the  other? 

To  show  what  is  going  on  in  the  smaller 
provinces  as  well,  I  should  like  to  add  a  few 
words  concerning  New  Brunswick,  which  is  the 
largest  of  the  three  Maritime  Provinces  of  the 
Dominion,  but  has  an  area  no  greater  than  that 
of  Scotland  without  the  islands. 


256  CANADA 

New  Brunswick's  leading  industry  is  agricul- 
ture, and  of  the  ordinary  type  of  colonial 
agricultural  societies — which  hold  shows  and 
fairs,  and  introduce  good  stock — there  are  in 
the  province  about  sixty,  with  a  membership  of 
5,000.  They  receive  grants  from  the  Govern- 
ment to  the  extent  of  £1,500  a  year,  and  they 
are  said  to  have  done  excellent  work.  But  that 
work  was  found  inadequate  in  itself,  and  a 
recent  Act  of  the  Provincial  Legislature  author- 
ized the  formation  of  Farmers'  Institutes  for  the 
purpose  of  disseminating  information  with  regard 
to  agriculture. 

The  position  to-day  is  well  indicated  by  the 
report  of  the  New  Brunswick  Commissioner  of 
Agriculture  for  1902,  from  which  I  take  the 
following : — 

The  demand  for  more  and  better  knowledge  along 
agricultural  lines  is  a  predominant  feature  with  New 
Brunswick  agriculturists,  for  they  are  beginning  to  realize 
the  fact  that  no  business  or  calling  in  life  offers  better 
opportunities  for  intelligent  and  well-directed  efforts  than 
agriculture ;  but  to  simply  plough  and  mow,  reap  and  sow, 
is  no  longer  considered  intelligent  farming.  Therefore  the 
farmers  of  this  province  have  awakened  to  the  necessity  of 
being  informed  along  all  lines  of  this  work,  for  never  in 
the  history  of  the  province  has  there  been  such  a  demand 
for  printed  information  as  the  demand  of  the  past  year.  . .  . 

Lectures  are  delivered  in  every  section  of  the  province 
through  our  Institute  speakers,  who  are  men  skilled  in  all 


FARMERS'   SCHOOLS  257 

branches  of  farm  work,  and  the  good  seed  sown  by  them 
has  already  begun  to  bear  fruit.  Thousands  of  farmers 
with  their  wives  and  daughters  attend  these  meetings, 
which  are  veritable  farmers'*  schools,  in  which  information 
along  all  branches  of  agricultural  work  is  given  by  these 
practical  and  scientific  men,  procured  from  various  parts 
of  the  Dominion.  This  necessarily  costs  a  large  sum  of 
money,  which  is  cheerfully  expended,  in  order  that  the 
agricultural  work  may  be  promoted,  for  with  this  great 
industry  in  a  healthy  condition  all  other  industries  will 
soon  feel  the  benefit. 

It  is  pleasing  to  know  that  the  efforts  of  this  depart- 
ment are  being  recognised  by  the  farmers  of  this  country, 
interests  having  been  aroused  that  have  lain  dormant  for 
years,  much  to  the  detriment  of  those  who  are  engaged  in 
all  agricultural  pursuits,  as  well  as  those  who  are  depending 
upon  the  agriculturist  to  make  his  work  a  success. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
AUSTRALASIA 

THE  position  which  the  Australasian  colonies 
have  succeeded  in  obtaining  in  the  markets 
of  the  world,  and  especially  in  the  markets  of 
the  Mother  Country,  has  been  secured  only  as 
the  result  of  a  great  amount  of  energy,  enterprise, 
and  skilful  organization. 

Australasia  had  her  "  agricultural  crisis  "  in  the 
seventies  and  eighties,  just  as  Europe  in  general 
had,  but  under  wholly  different  conditions. 
With  vast  expanses  of  virgin  soils,  she  was 
capable  of  a  productiveness  far  beyond  the 
powers  of  consumption  of  her  very  limited 
population,  and  when  the  time  came  that  the 
supplies  were  greater  than  the  local  demand,  the 
agriculturists  began  to  drift  into  a  very  depressed 
condition  indeed.  Too  often  the  fall  in  prices 
was  such  that  the  settlers  could  hardly  get  any 
return  at  all  for  their  labour.  Sheep  were  boiled 
down  for  tallow;  butter  had  sometimes  to  be 
kept  for  any  period  from  six  to  twelve  months 

258 


FIRST   ESSENTIAL— REFRIGERATION        259 

before  a  market  could  be  found  for  it,  and  then 
it  would  fetch  threepence  a  pound ;  and  cheese 
and  other  perishables  realized  so  little  that  it 
was  hardly  worth  while  to  go  to  the  trouble  of 
preparing  them.  Breeders  of  pigs  even  had  a 
massacre  of  superfluous  stock  every  second  or 
third  year  in  order  to  keep  up  the  prices  of  those 
animals  or  of  those  products  which  alone  it  was 
worth  while  to  put  on  the  market. 

It  was  seen  that  the  best  remedy  for  these 
conditions  would  be  found  in  the  furnishing  of 
food  supplies  to  Great  Britain ;  but  an  essential 
preliminary  to  the  adoption  of  this  remedy  was 
the  discovery  of  an  effective  system  of  refriger- 
ation, so  that  perishable  commodities  could  be 
carried  the  very  considerable  distance  to  be 
traversed  and  arrive  in  sound  condition.  To-day 
all  this  is  regarded  as  a  matter  of  course,  and 
refrigeration  seems  a  simple  enough  business. 
But  there  has  been  an  element  of  romance  in 
the  story,  all  the  same.  It  was  in  1861  that  the 
late  Thomas  SutclifFe  Mort  resolved  in  his  own 
mind  that  the  man  who  could  solve  the  problem 
of  refrigeration  on  board  ocean-going  vessels,  for 
the  safe  transport  of  large  quantities  of  perish- 
able produce,  would  bring  wealth  to  the  Colonies 
and  confer  a  great  boon  on  the  teeming  popula- 
tion of  the  Mother  Country.  Not  only  did  he 


26o  AUSTRALASIA 

undertake  the  task,  but  from  that  time  he 
devoted  his  energies  and  his  means  almost 
entirely  to  its  accomplishment.  Fourteen  years 
later — that  is  to  say,  in  1875 — he  called  together 
a  number  of  the  leading  colonists  of  New  South 
Wales  to  inspect  some  "  chilling  works  "  he  had 
set  up  for  preparing  meat  for  export  to  Great 
Britain,  and  so  confident  of  success  was  he  that 
in  his  opening  speech  on  the  occasion  he  declared 
that  "  the  half-starved  nations  of  the  earth  shall 
now  be  fed."  Some  thousands  of  pounds  were 
also  spent  on  fitting  up  the  ship  Northam  with 
refrigerating  apparatus,  and  the  vessel  was  duly 
laden  with  a  cargo  of  meat  for  consignment  to 
England.  But  the  machinery  broke  down  before 
the  vessel  left  the  wharf,  and  the  experiment  was 
a  failure.  Mr.  Mort  died  soon  afterwards,  with- 
out having  seen  the  successful  accomplishment 
of  efforts  on  which  he  is  said  to  have  expended 
a  quarter  of  a  million  sterling. 

But  there  were  other  workers  in  the  same 
field,  notably  Dr.  James  Harrison,  of  Geelong, 
who  gave  the  best  years  of  his  life  to  developing 
the  system  of  artificial  refrigeration.  In  1880 
there  was  a  first  successful  shipment  of  frozen 
meat  from  Australia  to  England  by  the  steamer 
Strathkven,  and  a  new  era  was  started  for 
Australasian  agriculture,  though  another  period 


SECOND   ESSENTIAL— INSTRUCTION         261 

of  eight  years  was  to  elapse  before  refrigeration 
was  taken  advantage  of  for  the  transport  of  any 
other  perishable  commodity  than  fresh  meat. 
Then  there  began  to  grow  up  a  further  big  trade 
in  dairy  produce,  and  this,  in  turn,  has  been 
succeeded  by  the  export  of  fruit,  poultry,  rabbits, 
etc.,  in  respect  to  all  of  which  the  principle  of 
refrigeration  has  practically  annihilated  distance. 
The  greatest  of  the  disadvantages  under  which 
the  Australasian  farmers  had  laboured  was  thus 
successfully  overcome,  and  they  were  able  to 
join  actively  in  the  now  world-wide  competi- 
tion for  the  privilege  of  supplying  the  British 
public  with  food.  But  there  were  other  things 
still  to  consider.  Under  his  previous  conditions, 
as  already  described,  the  cultivator  had  found 
that  the  most  primitive  methods  of  cultivation 
sufficed ;  but  when  he  had  to  adapt  his  pro- 
duce to  the  requirements  of  the  British  market, 
and  when  he  entered  into  competition  with 
European  cultivators  who  neglected  no  scientific 
principle  which  would  improve  their  position, 
the  situation  became  altogether  different.  The 
various  Colonial  Governments  thereupon  set 
about  the  organization  of  more  or  less  effective 
systems  of  agricultural  education,  the  colleges, 
schools,  information  bureaux,  and  model  farms 
established  with  this  special  object  in  view  being 


262  AUSTRALASIA 

supplemented  by  itinerant  professors  and  in- 
structors, who  went  about  among  the  farmers, 
or  otherwise  assured  to  them  skilled  advice  in 
the  various  branches  of  their  undertakings. 
These,  again,  were  supplemented  in  some  of 
the  Colonies  by  substantial  bonuses,  and  by  a 
system  of  official  inspection  of  produce  intended 
for  export. 

But  in  Australasia,  as  in  most  of  the  European 
countries  of  which  I  have  already  spoken,  it  was 
found  that  the  opening  up  of  more  markets,  and 
the  teaching  of  better  methods  of  production, 
required  to  be  supplemented  by  giving  to  the 
cultivators  greater  facilities  for  raising  capital,  by 
means  of  loans,  for  the  carrying  on  of  their  agri- 
cultural operations.  Here,  again,  there  are  differ- 
ences in  the  conditions  in  Europe  and  Australasia 
respectively,  for  though  the  Australian  squatter 
may  be  in  a  better  financial  position  generally 
than  the  average  peasant  in  Continental  Europe, 
he  is  liable  to  visitations  of  drought,  unknown 
in  the  Old  World,  which  in  a  single  season  may 
deprive  him  of  years  of  effort,  and  leave  him  to 
begin  his  work  all  over  again.  Added,  therefore, 
to  the  general  considerations  which  apply  to  the 
Colonial  equally  with  the  European  farmer,  there 
were  special  reasons  why  an  easy  agricultural 
credit  should  be  brought  within  the  reach  of 


THIRD   ESSENTIAL— CREDIT  263 

the  former;  and  as  this  subject  is  a  matter  of 
practical  interest  to  agriculturists  all  the  world 
over,  it  may  be  of  advantage  if  I  indicate  briefly 
what  has  been  done  in  some  of  the  leading 
Colonies. 

In  New  South  Wales  an  Act  was  passed  in 
1899  adopting  the  principle  of  advances  to 
settlers  who  were  in  necessitous  circumstances, 
or  were  financially  embarrassed  owing  to 
drought.  A  Board  was  appointed  to  consider 
applications  for  loans,  and  determine  whether 
they  should  be  granted.  Under  the  original 
Act  no  advance  made  to  any  one  settler  was 
to  exceed  £200,  at  4  per  cent,  interest,  and  the 
sum  borrowed  was  to  be  repaid  in  ten  years  ;  but 
under  a  later  Act,  passed  in  1902,  the  maximum 
was  increased  to  £500,  and  the  period  for  repay- 
ment was  extended  to  31  years. 

In  Victoria  the  Savings  Banks  Commissioners 
were  authorized  by  an  Act  of  1890  to  make 
advances  to  settlers  on  mortgages  of  their  lands. 
In  1896  a  new  Act  modified  some  of  the  con- 
ditions previously  laid  down,  and  enabled  the 
Commissioners  to  lend  to  farmers,  graziers, 
market  gardeners,  or  other  persons  engaged  in 
agricultural,  horticultural,  viticultural,  or  pastoral 
pursuits.  The  loans,  granted  on  the  security  of 
the  land  held  by  the  borrowers,  could  be  ad- 


264  AUSTRALASIA 

vanced  in  instalments,  if  desired.  They  were  to 
bear  4|  per  cent,  interest,  and  be  repaid  in  sixty- 
three  half-yearly  instalments,  or  such  smaller 
number  as  might  be  arranged. 

In  Queensland  an  Agricultural  Bank  Act, 
passed  in  1901,  authorized  the  establishment  of 
a  bank  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the 
occupation,  cultivation,  and  improvement  of 
the  agricultural  lands  of  the  State.  The  capital 
to  be  raised  was  not  to  exceed  £250,000,  and 
advances  up  to  £800  might  be  made  to  farmers 
or  settlers.  Interest  at  the  rate  of  5  per  cent, 
per  annum  was  to  be  paid  for  the  first  five  years, 
at  the  end  of  which  period  the  borrower  was  to 
repay  the  loan  within  twenty  years  in  half-yearly 
instalments  at  the  rate  of  £4  Os.  3d.  for  each 
£100  advanced. 

In  South  Australia  a  State  Advance  Bank 
was  set  up  in  1895  for  the  purpose  of  making 
advances  to  farmers,  producers,  and  local 
authorities,  in  aid  of  industries,  at  a  rate  of 
interest  not  to  exceed  5  per  cent.,  the  funds 
being  raised  by  mortgage  bonds  guaranteed  by 
the  Colonial  Government. 

In  Western  Australia  the  Agricultural  Bank 
Act  of  1894  authorized  the  establishment  of  a 
bank  which  would  make  advances  to  farmers 
and  cultivators  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  them 


THE   "AUSTRALASIAN   SYSTEM"  265 

to  carry  out  improvements  in  respect  to  "  clear- 
ing, cultivating,  and  ring-barking."  By  an 
amending  Act  of  1896,  the  definition  of  such 
improvements  was  extended  to  fencing,  drainage 
works,  and  the  provision  of  wells,  fresh  water 
reservoirs,  buildings,  or  other  works  enhancing 
the  value  of  the  holding.  The  capital  of  the 
bank  is  £200,000 ;  the  maximum  loan  is  £800, 
and  the  maximum  rate  of  interest  is  5  per  cent. 

Finally,  in  New  Zealand  the  Government 
Advances  to  Settlers  Act  of  1894  provided  for 
the  establishment  of  an  Advance  to  Settlers 
Office,  which  was  empowered  to  lend  on  first 
mortgages  on  land  occupied  for  farming,  dairying, 
or  market  gardening  purposes. 

One  sees,  therefore,  how  these  various  con- 
ditions may  well  have  contributed  to  the  advance 
of  Australasian  agriculture  :  the  bringing  of  the 
markets  of  the  Old  World  within  reach  of  the 
Antipodes  by  the  successful  resort  to  refriger- 
ation ;  the  higher  education  of  cultivators 
who  had  been  led  by  Bountiful  Nature  into 
the  adoption  of  easy-going  and  non-scientific 
methods  of  production  ;  and  the  active  aid  of 
the  State  both  in  directing  the  various  branches 
of  agricultural  industry  along  practical  lines 
and  in  placing  financial  resources  within  the 
reach  of  the  cultivators  in  case  of  need.  As  for 


266  AUSTRALASIA 

the  results,  there  is  no  need  to  bring  forward  any 
elaborate  array  of  statistics  to  show  how  greatly 
the  productiveness  of  Australasia  has  increased 
under  the  operation  of  the  various  circumstances 
described  above.  On  this  point  I  will  content 
myself  with  a  single  fact,  namely,  that  within 
thirteen  years  of  the  practical  application  of  the 
principle  of  refrigeration,  the  exports  of  agricul- 
tural products  despatched  by  these  means  from 
the  colony  of  Victoria  alone  amounted  in  value 
to  £15,500,000. 

The  expansion  of  colonial  agriculture  suggested 
by  such  figures  as  these  means  much  more,  too, 
than  simply  the  direct  return  from  the  produce 
that  is  exported.  It  means  that  land  suitable  for 
grazing  or  other  agricultural  purposes  in  con- 
venient localities  has  greatly  increased  in  value 
of  late  years ;  and  it  means,  also,  that  many 
subsidiary  industries  have  been  created  to  supply 
requirements  for  the  various  branches  of  agricul- 
tural export.  Saw  mills  and  factories  have  been 
set  up  for  making  butter  and  fruit  boxes  or 
rabbit  crates ;  and  hundreds  of  persons  find 
employment  all  the  year  round  in  providing 
wraps  for  the  carcases  of  frozen  mutton.  One 
sees  here  a  further  illustration  of  a  fact  which  I 
have  already  repeatedly  advanced — that  the 
development  of  agriculture  may  be  a  substantial 


DRAWBACKS  267 

advantage  not  alone  to  the  toilers  in  the  rural 
districts  but  also  to  the  workers  in  the  towns. 

Provided  that  the  deplorable  consequences  of 
periodical  droughts  in  Australia  can  be  avoided 
by  an  efficient  system  of  irrigation,  there  would 
seem  to  be  hardly  any  limit  to  the  productive- 
ness of  our  Australasian  colonies,  and  though 
agriculture  there  is  only  just  passing  out  of  what 
is  called  the  "  tentative  "  stage,  it  is  evident  that 
the  foundations  have  been  laid  of  an  organized 
system  from  which  much  can  be  looked  for  in  the 
immediate  future.  There  are  drawbacks,  how- 
ever, apart  from  the  possibilities  of  drought.  A 
writer  in  the  Year  Book  of  Australasia  for  1903 
says,  in  regard  to  the  question  of  fruit  export : — 

The  great  difficulty  consists  in  the  absence  of  concerted 
action  on  the  part  of  the  fruit  growers  generally,  and 
especially  in  New  South  Wales.  Attempts  have  been  un- 
successfully made  to  introduce  the  co-operative  principle, 
which  has  effected  so  much  in  connection  with  the  dairy 
farming  industry;  and  until  something  of  the  kind  be- 
comes possible  the  progress  of  Australian  fruit  cultivation 
must  remain  slow  and  uncertain. 

Even  in  the  dairy -farming  industry  itself 
there  is  an  increasing  tendency  on  the  part  of 
the  farmers  to  avoid  the  daily  journey  to  the 
central  factory  with  their  milk  by  using  hand 
separators  at  home,  and  taking  in  their  cream 


268  AUSTRALASIA 

at  intervals  of  from  two  to  eight  days,  to  the 
consequent  detriment  of  the  butter  produced. 

Worse  still  is  the  position  to  which  the  farmers 
have  been  reduced  by  the  industrial  conditions  in 
Colonies  which  are  becoming  a  dubious  Paradise 
for  Workers  but  an  undeniable  Purgatory  for 
Employers.  The  "Rights  of  Labour"  move- 
ment has,  it  seems,  affected  country  districts  as 
well  as  industrial  centres,  for  the  farmers  say 
they  cannot  afford  to  pay  the  rates  of  wages 
imposed  by  the  "  labour  boards,"  and  they  and 
their  families  cannot  stand  the  strain  of  doing  all 
the  work  themselves.  "So  it  is,"  writes  one 
authority  on  the  subject,  "  that  we  are  drifting 
more  and  more  into  the  position  of  limiting  our 
summer  production  to  the  herds  we  can  manage 
without  hired  help." 

The  path  of  the  Australasian  farmer  is,  there- 
fore, far  from  being  strewn  entirely  with  roses. 
But  it  is  a  much  easier  path  for  him  to  walk 
along  than  it  would  have  been  had  not  Science 
and  Organization  each  stretched  out  to  him  a 
friendly  hand  in  the  way  I  have  here  sought  to 
describe. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
IRELAND 

IT  was  in  1889  that  Mr.  (now  Sir  Horace) 
Plunkett  started  on  his  attempt  to  re- 
organize the  agricultural  conditions  of  Ireland. 
Returning  there  after  a  prolonged  residence  in 
the  United  States,  where  he  had  been  ranching 
in  the  interests  of  his  health,  he  was  struck  by 
the  distressed  condition  of  the  country,  and 
resolved  to  do  what  he  could  for  its  improve- 
ment. He  began,  however,  on  lines  which  he 
soon  found  it  necessary  to  abandon.  At  the 
Co-operative  Congress  in  England,  in  1889,  he 
got  the  idea  that  the  regeneration  of  Ireland 
might  be  facilitated  by  the  establishment  of 
co-operative  stores.  The  speedy  discovery  of  the 
fact  that  such  a  hope  would  be  entirely  delusive 
led  him  to  think  of  other  possible  remedies,  and 
he  then  evolved  in  his  own  mind  the  idea  of  a 
co-operative  dairy,  not  learning  until  some  time 
afterwards  that  co-operative  dairies  were  already 
a  well-established  institution  in  Denmark. 

269 


270  IRELAND 

To  get  the  Irish  people  to  adopt  his  proposals 
was,  however,  tremendously  uphill  work.  The 
need  for  action  was  evident  enough,  for  the 
position  the  Irish  farmers  had  secured  for 
their  produce  on  English  markets  was  being 
threatened  by  other  countries  which  were  adopt- 
ing scientific  processes  that  gave  them  an 
immense  advantage  over  the  "  miserably  out-of- 
date  methods  "  (as  Mr.  Plunkett  himself  called 
them)  of  the  Irish  farmers,  who  had,  further, 
been  deprived  by  steam,  electricity,  and  re- 
frigeration of  whatever  advantages  they  once 
commanded  with  regard  to  nearness  to  markets. 
"Your  very  existence,"  he  told  them,  "is 
threatened  by  circumstances  of  which  you  have 
little  knowledge,  and  over  which  you  have,  at 
present,  no  control."  But  he  addressed  fifty 
meetings  before  he  got  the  first  co-operative 
dairy  started,  and  it  was  not  until  another 
twelve  months  had  passed  that  he  saw  the 
second.  Then  success  gradually  became  more 
assured,  so  that  in  1891  the  creameries  and 
co-operative  societies  numbered  17 ;  in  1892 
there  were  25  ;  in  1893,  30 ;  and  in  1894,  33. 
The  movement  had  then  so  far  progressed 
that  it  could  no  longer  be  controlled  by 
individuals,  and  the  Irish  Agricultural  Organ- 
ization Society  was  formed,  the  number  of 


THE   RECESS   COMMITTEE  271 

creameries  and  societies  increasing,  the  follow- 
ing year,  to  67. 

All  this  time  Mr.  Plunkett  had  been  looking 
forward  to  the  day  when  it  might  be  possible 
to  supplement  self-help  by  State  aid.  But  ex- 
perience had  convinced  him  that  organization 
among  the  farmers  themselves  must  precede 
Government  action,  if  such  action  were  to  be 
really  efficacious,  and  not  until  he  had  achieved 
a  certain  degree  of  success  in  the  former  respect 
did  he  move  in  regard  to  the  latter.  Then,  in 
1896,  he  was  instrumental  in  bringing  about  the 
Parliamentary  Recess  Committee,  composed  of 
representatives  of  the  various  Irish  parties. 
This  Committee  made  elaborate  inquiries  abroad, 
and  deliberated  as  to  what  could  be  done  to 
develop  the  agricultural  and  industrial  resources 
of  Ireland,  eventually  presenting  a  report  in 
which,  among  other  things,  they  recommended: — 

(1)  That  the  administration  of  State  aid  to  agriculture 
and  industries  in  Ireland  on  the  principles  to  be  described 
can  be  most  effectively  carried  out  by  including  the  two 
branches  of  Agriculture  and  Industries,  and  the  technical 
instruction  relating  thereto,  under  the  care  of  one  Depart- 
ment of  Government  specially  created  for  the  purpose ;  and 

(2)  That  this  Department  should  consist  of  a  Board  with 
a  Minister  of  Agriculture  and  Industries  responsible  to 
Parliament  at  its  head,  and  assisted  by  a  Consultative 
Council  representative  of  the  agricultural  and  industrial 
interests  of  the  country. 


272  IRELAND 

A  "  Department  of  Agriculture  and  Technical 
Instruction  for  Ireland"  was  duly  created  on 
what  (but  for  legal  phraseology)  were  identically 
the  same  lines  as  those  proposed  by  the  report 
of  the  Recess  Committee.  The  Department 
works  in  cordial  sympathy  with  the  Organiza- 
tion Society,  and  such  sympathy  is  well  justified 
by  the  fact  that  if  the  Organization  Society  had 
not  already  been  in  existence,  and  laid  so  well 
the  foundations  of  the  new  movement,  it  would 
have  taken  the  Department  at  least  another 
five  years  to  attain  to  the  position  it  occupies 
to-day. 

The  work  of  setting  up  co-operative  cream- 
eries in  Ireland  has  been  greatly  facilitated  of 
late  years  by  the  fact  that  they  can  be  established 
without  imposing  any  serious  financial  burden 
on  those  concerned.  The  initial  cost  may  be 
from  £1,300  to  £1,500  for  a  creamery  fitted 
with  the  requisite  machinery  of  a  modern  type ; 
but,  as  a  rule,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  make  a 
call  on  the  members  for  more  than  10s.  each  (in 
some  cases  only  5,9.  each  is  paid),  the  remainder 
of  the  cost  being  met  out  of  the  subsequent 
profits. 

The  trade  done  by  the  Irish  creameries  now 
represents  a  total  of  £1,000,000  the  year.  The 
number  of  Dairy  Societies  and  Auxiliaries  in 


SOCIETIES   AND   BANKS  273 

Ireland  in  1902  was  322,  with  a  membership  of 
41,299.  Of  Agricultural  Societies  there  were 
124  in  1902,  and  of  Poultry  Societies  81.  The 
latter  represent  an  especially  promising  phase  of 
the  movement.  At  one  time  the  eggs  were 
collected  from  the  farmers  by  "  higglers,"  who 
bought  them  at  a  certain  price  irrespective  of 
size  or  colour.  They  might  be  kept  some  time 
until  the  higgler  called,  and  he,  in  turn,  might 
keep  them  until  he  had  made  up  a  good  consign- 
ment, so  that  by  the  time  the  eggs  reached  the 
English  consumer  many  of  them  would  be  bad. 
In  this  way  Irish  eggs  got  an  unfavourable  repu- 
tation. To-day  instruction  is  given  to  the 
farmers  as  to  breeds,  etc.,  the  eggs  are  paid 
for  according  to  weight  and  colour — the  farmer 
thus  having  every  inducement  to  provide  for  the 
collector  as  many  large  brown  eggs  as  possible — 
and  the  eggs,  when  bought,  are  graded  and  sent 
off  promptly  to  market.  Instruction  is  also 
given  in  the  art  of  packing  according  to  Danish 
methods.  There  are,  in  addition,  Flax  Societies, 
Horticultural  and  Fruit  Growers'  Societies,  and 
an  Irish  Bee-Keepers'  Federation. 

The  importance  of  the  role  that  is  being  played 
by  the  agricultural  credit  banks  in  Ireland  in 
facilitating  all  this  economic  development  could 
hardly  be  exaggerated.  To  the  Irish  peasant  it 


274  IRELAND 

may  be  a  matter  of  supreme  importance  that  he 
should  be  able  to  raise  a  small  loan  in  case  of 
need.  The  temporary  use  even  of  a  few  pounds, 
for  the  purchase,  say,  of  a  pig,  may  make  all  the 
difference  as  to  whether  or  not  he  will  be  able 
to  pay  his  rent.  Not  only,  however,  have  the 
ordinary  Joint  Stock  banks  in  Ireland  a  natural 
reluctance  to  make  very  small  advances  to ,  in- 
dividual borrowers,  but  to  these  persons  them- 
selves the  expenses  incurred  in  obtaining  such 
advances  may  substantially  reduce  their  actual 
value.  A  farmer  living  in  county  Mayo  once 
related  his  experiences  in  getting  a  loan  of  £5 
from  a  Joint  Stock  bank.  "I  had,"  he  said, 
"first  of  all  to  pay  the  return  railway  fare  of 
myself  and  my  two  sureties  to  the  town  where 
the  offices  of  the  Joint  Stock  bank  are.  That 
was  1*.  3d.  each.  1  had  also  to  pay  my  sureties 
for  the  loss  of  their  day's  work,  and  give  them 
dinner.  The  bank  deducted  2s.  6d.  from  the 
£5  for  the  loan  of  the  money  for  three  months, 
and  I  had  to  pay  the  cost  of  the  bill.  Then, 
as  I  knew  I  should  want  to  renew  the  loan 
at  the  end  of  the  three  months,  I  had  to 
keep  on  good  terms  with  my  sureties  for  all 
that  time,  and  'treat'  them  when  I  met  them." 
A  calculation  showed  that  the  amount  paid  by 
the  farmer  in  respect  to  the  loan  in  question 


A   REVOLUTION   IN   FINANCE  275 

was  equal  to  48  per  cent,  per  annum  on  the 
sum  borrowed. 

The  agricultural  credit  banks  are  changing 
all  this.  Based  on  the  principle  of  unlimited 
liability,  they  are  formed  by  combinations  of 
peasantry,  farmers,  and  better  class  sympathizers, 
and  are  managed  on  the  most  economical  method, 
all  the  officials  giving  their  services  gratuitously. 
With  the  personal  guarantees  of  the  members 
for  the  return  of  the  sums  borrowed,  no  difficulty 
is  (as  a  rule)  found  by  the  rural  banks  in  getting 
substantial  sums  at  4  per  cent,  from  the  Joint 
Stock  banks,  which,  generally  speaking,  regard 
the  rural  banks  as  desirable  "  feeders,"  and  well 
deserving  of  encouragement.  From  the  agri- 
cultural credit  bank  the  farmer  gets  a  loan  at  the 
rate  of  one  penny  per  £  per  month  for  such 
time  as  he  may  require  it.  The  interest  is  not 
deducted  in  advance,  and  he  incurs  practically 
no  travelling  or  other  expenses  either  at  the  time 
he  obtains  the  loan,  or  when  he  seeks  its  renewal. 
In  actual  practice  the  loans  granted  range  from 
£2  to  £10,  the  average  being  £3  or  £4.  Hitherto 
the  banks  have  (so  far  as  can  be  ascertained) 
made  only  one  bad  debt.  In  the  course  of  a 
single  year  a  bank  established  in  one  of  the 
congested  districts  on  the  west  coast  granted 
400  loans  to  small  farmers,  and  in  eleven  cases 


276  IRELAND 

only  were  the  borrowers  as  much  as  a  single 
week  late  in  their  repayments.  Even  this  fact 
displeased  the  local  committee,  who  imposed  a 
penalty  of  threepence  on  each  of  the  eleven 
borrowers  for  being  in  arrear. 

All  this  may  seem  to  be  very  paltry  to  a 
financier  accustomed  to  dealing  with  large  sums 
of  money ;  but  to  the  impoverished  peasantry 
of  Ireland  it  represents  a  substantial  boon  in 
regard  to  the  material  help  afforded,  while  there 
are,  also,  good  moral  results  secured  in  the 
teaching  of  a  sense  of  responsibility,  and  in  the 
inculcating  of  business  principles.  From  the 
latter  standpoint  even  the  threepenny  fines 
have  a  value  which  cannot  be  gainsaid.  Alto- 
gether one  can  readily  sympathize  with  the 
declaration  of  one  Irish  farmer  who  described 
the  local  agricultural  credit  bank  as  "  the  Good 
Samaritan  of  the  district."  It  is  hoped,  how- 
ever, that  people  in  Ireland  who  have  money 
to  invest  may  be  induced  to  pay  it  into  the 
rural  banks  on  interest,  in  order  that  such  banks 
may  have  a  larger  capital  available,  and,  also, 
to  promote  a  community  of  feeling  between  the 
different  classes.  On  the  one  hand  it  is  sought 
to  persuade  the  comparatively  poor  to  deposit 
their  modest  savings  in  the  rural  banks,  instead 
of  hiding  them  in  the  rafters,  or  storing  them 


THE   AGRICULTURAL  WHOLESALE         277 

in  an  old  stocking  or  a  tea-pot ;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  desired  that  the  comparatively 
rich  should  devote  their  surplus  money  to  the 
development  of  the  district  in  which  they  live, 
instead  of  sending  it  away  for  investment  in 
speculations  in  other  countries.  Above  all,  a 
very  substantial  addition  to  the  number  of  these 
banks,  which  are  doing  so  much  good  with  such 
modest  resources,  may  be  hoped  for.  Already 
there  are  150  in  the  congested  districts  alone. 
But  to  achieve  really  great  results  there  should 
be  close  on  1,000. 

Another  outcome  of  the  co-operative  move- 
ment in  Ireland  is  represented  by  the  Irish 
Agricultural  AVholesale  Society,  Ltd.,  which 
was  formed  in  1897  to  supplement  the  efforts  of 
the  existing  agricultural  societies  by  obtaining 
for  them  and  their  members  all  descriptions  of 
agricultural  requirements  of  best  quality  at  the 
lowest  market  prices.  The  Agricultural  Whole- 
sale Society  represents,  in  effect,  a  federation  of 
the  other  societies,  the  idea  which  led  to  its 
formation  being  that  the  experts  whose  services 
such  a  federation  could  secure  would  be  better 
able  to  judge  of  the  qualities  of  fertilizers,  seeds, 
etc.,  than  individual  farmers  could  do,  and  that 
the  federation  would  be  able  to  get  lower  terms 
for  large  grouped  orders  than  individual  farmers 


278  IRELAND 

or  individual  societies  could  hope  to  secure  for 
smaller  lots. 

In  regard  to  fertilizers  it  was  found  that  the 
average  Irish  farmer  had  the  most  elementary 
ideas  on  the  subject,  for  he  generally  called  all 
artificial  manures  by  the  one  name  of  "  guano," 
and  he  judged  of  their  quality  by  their  smell, 
which  he  concluded  must  be  strong,  if  not  nasty, 
if  they  were  good.  To-day,  on  the  contrary, 
Irish  farmers  will  talk  about  artificial  manures 
in  a  way  that  would  do  credit  to  a  professor  of 
agriculture.  Whereas,  also,  they  once  paid  at 
the  rate  of  £4  or  £5  per  ton  to  some  local 
trader  for  manure  of  very  inferior  quality,  they 
obtain  to-day  the  highest  grades  through  their 
Agricultural  Wholesale  Society  for  about  £3 
per  ton,  the  total  purchases  of  that  Society  now 
representing  about  12,000  tons  of  artificial 
manure  the  year. 

But  if  the  position  of  the  Irish  farmer  was 
once  bad  enough  in  respect  to  artificial  manures, 
it  was  still  worse  as  regards  seeds.  Before  the 
formation  of  the  Agricultural  Wholesale  Society 
the  west  coast  of  Ireland,  from  Sligo  to  Tralee, 
was  the  dumping-ground  for  all  the  "  refuse " 
and  "  cleanings  "  of  seeds  from  England  and 
Scotland,  as  well  as  from  the  Continent  in 
general,  just  as  the  Welsh  coast,  from  Holy- 


SEEDS   AND   IMPLEMENTS  279 

head  to  Carmarthen,  is  to  a  great  extent  at  the 
present  day.  The  Irish  farmers  in  the  district 
in  question  were,  in  fact,  robbed  as  mercilessly 
in  the  matter  of  seeds  as  they  were  in  the 
matter  of  manures.  The  refuse  brought  up 
weeds,  if  it  brought  up  anything,  and  the  clean- 
ings produced  a  soft  grass  which  contained  no 
proper  nourishment  for  the  cattle.  It  is  no 
wonder  the  farmers  used  to  say  "  it  was  useless 
for  them  to  sow  seed  at  all."  But  now  that 
purity  and  germinating  qualities  are  guaranteed, 
larger  yields  and  much  heavier  crops  being 
consequently  obtained,  the  purchases  by  farmers 
in  the  West  of  Ireland  have  increased  enor- 
mously, and  are  still  increasing. 

Less  advance  has  been  made,  up  to  the 
present,  in  the  matter  of  agricultural  imple- 
ments. Whether  or  not  there  is  an  actual 
"ring"  of  makers,  it  is  certain  that  the  latter 
hesitate  to  deal  direct  with  the  Wholesale 
Society,  and  insist  that  purchases  shall  be  made 
through  "  recognised  agents  "  ;  but  the  way  may 
eventually  be  found  of  overcoming  a  difficulty 
which  at  present  presses  somewhat  hardly  on 
farming  interests. 

Such  is  the  magnitude  of  the  operations 
carried  on  by  the  Irish  Agricultural  Wholesale 
Society,  Ltd.,  that  the  annual  turn-over  now 


28o  IRELAND 

amounts  to  from  £80,000  to  £90,000,  as  com- 
pared with  one  of  only  £15,000  in  the  first  year 
of  the  Society's  existence.  Singularly  enough, 
too,  this  substantial  business  is  done  on  a  capital 
that  does  not  exceed  £8,000.  The  course  of 
procedure  adopted  is  as  follows.  The  farmers 
in  a  certain  district  notify  to  their  local  agri- 
cultural society  the  purchases  they  want  to 
make,  and  the  combined  order  is  sent  to  the 
Wholesale  Society  in  Dublin.  But  with  it 
there  is  a  printed  form  by  which  the  members 
of  the  committee,  individually  and  collectively, 
guarantee  payment  in  case  of  default  on  the 
part  of  the  actual  purchasers  ;  and,  as  the  com- 
mittee generally  includes  some  wealthy  farmer 
or  other  person  of  means,  the  guarantee  is  re- 
garded as  sufficient  to  warrant  the  directors,  in 
their  turn,  pledging  their  own  credit  to  the 
bankers.  So  well  does  the  system  work  that  the 
Wholesale  Society  has  not  yet  made  a  single 
bad  debt,  while  90  per  cent,  of  the  local  societies 
pay  their  accounts  within  the  stipulated  period. 

A  further  supplementary  organization  is  the 
Irish  Co-operative  Agency  Society,  Ltd.,  which 
seeks  to  provide  the  Dairy  Societies  with  a 
profitable  market  for  their  produce.  The  society 
has  its  headquarters  in  Limerick,  with  depots 
in  Manchester,  Liverpool,  Dublin,  Glasgow, 


RAILWAY   RATES  281 

and  elsewhere,  and  an  agent  in  South  Africa. 
In  1902  it  sold  35,000  cwt.  of  butter,  realizing 
£178,800,  as  compared  with  30,800  cwt,  realiz- 
ing £166,700,  in  1901. 

Combination  among  the  Irish  farmers  has 
further  shown  its  value  in  securing  the  most 
favourable  of  railway  rates.  In  the  course  of 
conversation  a  leading  official  of  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  and  Technical  Instruction  for 
Ireland  said  to  me  on  this  subject : — 

We  began  with  the  idea  that  the  railway  rates  were 
extravagantly  high.  We  had  heard  people  say  so,  and  we 
thought  it  must  be  true.  But  the  more  we  looked  into 
the  matter  the  more  we  saw  that,  considering  the  char- 
acter of  the  freight,  the  quantities  carried,  and  the  ir- 
regular times  at  which  consignments  were  handed  in,  the 
rates  charged  by  the  railways  were  really  most  reasonable, 
so  far  as  the  individual  lines  were  concerned.  We  saw, 
also,  that  what  was  needed  was  such  a  combination  among 
the  producers  and  traders  that  their  various  consignments 
would  be  despatched  in  bulk  and  at  regular  times,  so  as 
to  encourage  and  enable  the  railway  companies  to  give 
more  favourable  terms.  Our  experience  shows  that  when 
this  is  done  the  railway  companies  are  perfectly  ready  to 
meet  us,  and  do  all  that  it  is  in  their  power  to  do. 

Another  authority,  who  possesses  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  working  of  the  co-operative 
movement  in  Ireland,  said  to  me  on  the  same 
subject : — 

We  have  been  too  much  in  the  habit  of  blaming  the 


282  IRELAND 

railway  companies  without  recognizing  their  difficulties. 
There  are  stations  where  the  business  is  so  irregular  that 
some  days  there  will  be  a  lot  of  officials  with  absolutely 
nothing  to  do;  but  they  must  be  kept  on  because  another 
day  there  will  be  perhaps  more  than  they  can  get  through. 
What  the  co-operative  movement  is  going  to  do  in 
Ireland,  among  other  things,  is  to  organize  the  traffic 
for  the  railways,  so  that  they  will  know  what  to  expect, 
and  be  enabled  in  various  ways  to  effect  economies  from 
which  we  shall  hope  to  gain  advantages  for  ourselves. 

As  illustrating  the  possibilities  in  respect  to 
reduced  railway  rates  already  open  to  com- 
bination, reference  may  be  made  to  the  rates 
charged  for  the  carriage  of  artificial  manures 
on  the  Midland  and  Great  Western  of  Ireland 
Railway  between  Dublin  and  Langford,  a  dis- 
tance of  seventy-eight  miles.  For  a  single  ton 
the  rate  is  10s.  Id. ;  for  4  tons  it  is  7s.  IQd.  per 
ton  ;  for  6  tons  it  is  6s.  5d.  per  ton  ;  and  for  50 
tons  5s.  IQd.  per  ton,  with  the  further  conces- 
sion of  spreading  that  quantity  of  consignments 
over  a  period  of  eight  days.  An  individual 
farmer  in  Ireland  could  not  be  expected  to 
order  a  50 -ton  lot,  so  as  to  secure  the 
lowest  of  these  rates;  but  the  Irish  Agricul- 
tural Wholesale  Society,  with  which  he  can 
be  connected  through  his  local  society,  will 
give  out  contracts  for  as  many  as  2,000  tons 
at  a  time. 


IRISH   LIFE   AND   CHARACTER 


283 


The  position  in  1902  of  the  various  bodies 
associated  with  the  Irish  Agricultural  Organiza- 
tion Society  is  shown  by  the  following  table  : — 


DESCRIPTION   OF 

1902. 

INCREASE   OVER    1901. 

SOCIETIES. 

No. 

Members. 

Turnover. 

No. 

Members. 

Turnover. 

Dairy    . 
Auxiliaries    . 

2471 
75  f 

41,299 

£ 

1,039,615 

45 

8,235 

198,476 

Agricultural 

124 

12,962 

75,521 

12 

1,267 

3,356 

Banks  . 

145 

6,611 

16,480 

44 

2,353 

6,123 

Poultry 

31 

5,906 

29,914 

5 

1,137 

13,245 

Home  Industries 

50 

2,983 

11,998 

12 

344 

3,048 

Flax      . 

4 

118 

2,889 

— 

15 

2,224 

Bee-keepers  . 

17 

298 

91 

17 

298 

91 

Federations  . 

3 

257 

232,528 

1 

125 

18,261 

Miscellaneous 

10 

862 

6,066 

6 

311 

5,333 

Totals    . 

706 

71,296 

1,415,102 

142 

14,085 

247,157 

The  total  number  of  Societies  on  December 
31st,  1903,  was  853,  subdivided  as  follows:— 
Dairy  Societies,  including  auxiliaries  not  separ- 
ately registered,  367 ;  Agricultural  Societies, 
145;  Banks,  201;  Home  Industries,  55 ;  Poultry 
Societies,  36 ;  Bee-keepers'  Societies,  28 ;  Mis- 
cellaneous Societies,  14 ;  Flax  Societies,  4 ; 
Federations,  3.  The  approximate  membership 
of  the  whole  of  the  Societies  on  the  same  date 
was  80,000,  and  the  approximate  total  turnover 
was  £2,000,000. 

Apart  from  the  practical  considerations  already 
dealt  with,  the  new  agricultural  movement  is 
appealing  strongly  to  certain  phases  of  Irish 
life  and  character  in  a  way  that  is  also  well 


284  IRELAND 

deserving  of  notice.  Forty  or  fifty  years  ago 
the  social  life  of  the  Irish  peasantry  was  of  a 
most  interesting  kind.  Its  distinguishing  fea- 
tures was  the  celidh — a  gathering  of  the  villagers 
in  the  house  of  one  or  other  of  their  number, 
where,  after  the  day's  work  was  done,  they 
would  tell  stories,  relate  folk  lore,  sing  Irish 
songs,  recite  poems,  or  listen  to  the  village 
fiddler,  perhaps  also  dancing  an  Irish  jig  to 
his  accompaniment.  Occasionally  the  indoor 
gatherings  would  be  varied  by  dances  at  the 
cross-roads.  So  it  was  that  the  life  even  in  out- 
of-the-way  villages  in  Ireland  exercised  a  great 
charm  on  the  people,  and  such  conditions  must 
have  had  much  to  do  with  the  devotion  with 
which  Irish  men  and  Irish  women  all  the  world 
over  regard  their  native  land.  But  with  the 
growth  of  political  and  agrarian  troubles  this 
poetic  side,  as  it  were,  of  Irish  character  began 
to  die  out ;  life  in  the  villages  became  dull  and 
monotonous,  and  the  younger  people  especially 
found  the  longing  for  a  more  active  and  a  more 
pleasurable  existence  irresistible.  In  England 
in  such  circumstances  as  these  the  country 
people  would  migrate  to  some  large  town  or 
city ;  but  in  Ireland  the  magnet  that  draws  the 
peasantry  from  the  villages  in  which  they  were 
born  is  America. 


THE   HUMAN   ELEMENT  285 

The  fact  is  now  recognised  by  the  leaders 
of  the  new  economic  movement  in  Ireland  that 
one  of  the  most  effectual  means  of  checking 
this  constant  emigration  to  the  United  States 
will  be  found  in  improving  the  conditions  of 
rural  life  in  Ireland,  by  cultivating  afresh  not 
alone  material  advantages,  but  also  those  social 
instincts  which  form  so  characteristic  a  phase 
of  the  Irishman's  natural  temperament.  Thus 
it  comes  that  rural  co-operative  societies  are 
fulfilling  much  more  than  a  purely  commercial 
purpose.  Some  of  them  have  provided  halls 
and  recreation  rooms ;  others  utilize  the  offices 
connected  with  the  creameries  for  dances  and 
other  gatherings ;  and  about  fifty  of  them  have 
opened  libraries  in  the  interests  of  their  members. 

All  these  things  increase  the  attachment  felt 
towards  the  societies,  and  the  combination  of 
what  may  be  called  the  human  with  the  business 
element  is  having  the  best  of  results,  alike  for 
the  people  themselves  and  for  the  enterprises 
in  which  they  have  embarked.  In  other  coun- 
tries such  combination  might  not  be  either 
necessary  or  desirable  ;  but  to  the  Irish  peasantry 
it  appeals  with  special  force.  Experience  gained 
in  organizing  the  new  movement  has  shown  that 
in  the  poorest  districts  particularly  it  is  of  little 
use  to  appeal  only  to  the  personal  interests  of 


286  IRELAND 

the  individual.  The  peasant  who  is  told  that 
if  he  joins  an  agricultural  co-operative  society 
he  will  get  so  much  more  for  his  eggs,  his 
butter,  or  his  other  produce,  is  deaf  to  the 
argument.  But  if  the  appeal  be  made  to  his 
feelings  of  brotherly  love  and  of  patriotism — if 
he  is  told,  for  instance,  that  by  joining  the 
society  he  will  help  to  improve  the  position  alike 
of  those  around  him  and  of  his  country  in 
general — he  responds  instantly,  and  is  eager  to 
do  what  he  can.  In  the  wealthier  districts 
business  considerations  have  the  greater  weight ; 
but  one  of  the  oddities  of  the  situation  in  the 
Irish  rural  districts  is  that,  the  poorer  the  man, 
the  safer  it  is  to  appeal  to  his  heart  rather  than 
to  his  pocket.  In  the  one  case  he  will  regularly 
walk  long  distances  to  attend  the  meetings  that 
are  called ;  in  the  other  he  would  hardly,  as  it 
were,  cross  the  street. 

The  healthy  public  spirit  thus  being  aroused 
may  be  illustrated  by  a  gathering  held  in  one  of 
the  most  impoverished  districts  in  the  west  of 
Ireland  to  consider  the  formation  of  a  co-opera- 
tive credit  bank.  An  organizer  from  Dublin 
explained  to  the  assembled  peasantry  that  the 
proposed  bank  would  be  established  on  the  basis 
of  unlimited  liability,  so  that  if  a  borrower  or 
his  sureties  failed  to  refund  the  amount  borrowed 


THE   NEW  HARMONY  287 

the  other  members  would  be  jointly  and  indi- 
vidually liable  to  pay  the  money  out  of  their 
own  pockets.  The  organizer  was  fully  prepared 
to  hear  his  audience  decline  to  accept  any  such 
responsibility,  and  he  was  agreeably  surprised 
when  a  man  among  the  audience  called  out, 
"  Sure,  that  is  nothing.  Anyone  would  do  that 
to  help  his  neighbour."  Where,  in  fact,  the 
individual  in  Ireland  is  unprogressive,  the  com- 
munity, operating  in  combination,  becomes  dis- 
tinctly progressive,  and  a  spirit  is  developed 
which  is  deservedly  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
promising  features  of  the  whole  economic  cam- 
paign. 

Of  no  less  importance  to  Ireland,  as  a  country, 
is  the  fact  that  the  new  movement  leads  to  the 
gathering  together,  on  one  common  platform, 
of  persons  of  all  classes,  creeds,  and  shades  of 
opinion.  At  first  there  were  political  differences. 
When,  in  the  early  days,  a  meeting  was  held  at 
a  town  in  county  Limerick  to  discuss  the  setting 
up  of  a  creamery,  one  speaker  declared,  "We 
will  have  nothing  to  do  here  with  butter  that  is 
not  made  on  Nationalist  principles."  In  another 
instance  a  dairy  society  came  to  grief  because 
the  members  disagreed  in  their  views  respecting 
the  late  Mr.  Parnell.  A  few  such  experiences, 
however,  led  to  the  rule  being  firmly  established 


288  IRELAND 

that  no  religious  or  political  subjects  should  be 
brought  up  for  discussion  at  any  meeting  held 
in  connection  with  the  co-operative  movement. 
So  it  is  that  to-day  parish  priest  and  rector, 
landlord  and  tenant  farmer,  will  all  meet  at  the 
same  table,  and  discuss  in  perfect  harmony  the 
various  topics  connected  with  the  well-being 
and  progress  of  the  particular  society  in  which 
they  are  mutually  interested. 

Such  an  achievement  as  this,  in  such  a 
country  as  Ireland,  would  in  itself  be  almost 
a  sufficient  reward  for  the  toils  of  the  organizers  ; 
but  the  matter  does  not  end  even  here,  for  the 
discovery  of  the  fact  that  such  harmony  is 
possible  is  having  a  reflex  action  in  regard  to 
public  life  in  Ireland  in  general.  It  is  seen  that 
men  of  varied  opinions  can  meet  and  work 
together  for  the  common  good  without  in  the 
slightest  degree  sacrificing  those  opinions ;  and 
the  broader  views  to  which  this  tendency  is  lead- 
ing can  hardly  fail,  in  course  of  time,  to  bring 
about  some  substantial  changes  in  a  country 
where  sectarian  and  political  considerations  have 
hitherto  been  supreme. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
ENGLAND  AND  WALES 

WHEN  we  inquire  what  England  has  been 
doing  in  regard  to  the  organization  of 
her  agriculture,  in  order  to  meet  all  the  activity 
in  the  same  direction  that  lias  been  shown  else- 
where, the  reply  is  far  from  satisfactory. 

There  is  no  need  to  disparage  the  useful  pur- 
pose which,  in  its  way,  has  been  served  by  our 
various  agricultural  associations,  whether  national 
or  county,  especially  in  regard  to  the  holding  of 
shows  and  the  spread  of  agricultural  knowledge. 
But  the  series  of  sketches  already  given  has 
shown  that  most  of  the  countries  on  the  Conti- 
nent of  Europe  realized  any  number  of  years 
ago,  up  to  a  quarter  of  a  century,  that  the 
ordinary  type  of  agricultural  society,  whether 
controlled  by  the  authorities  or  "  free,"  was  no 
longer  sufficient  in  itself  to  meet  the  exigencies 
of  a  changing  situation,  and  that  improved 
methods  of  production,  together  with  organiza- 
tions of  a  much  more  practical  type  (especially 
u  289 


290  ENGLAND  AND  WALES 

on  co-operative  lines),  had  become  an  absolute 
necessity  if  the  countries  concerned  were  to 
hold  their  own  amid  the  rivalries  of  the  nations. 

What  we  are  here  concerned  in,  therefore, 
is  to  see  the  extent  to  which  this  second 
stage  has  been  reached  in  England,  and  the 
conclusion  forced  upon  one  is  that,  so  far  as 
our  own  country  is  concerned,  agricultural  co- 
operation in  any  approach  to  a  widespread  and 
practical  system  is  still  absolutely  in  its  infancy. 
Leaving  out  of  account  certain  associations 
which  are  really  commercial  in  their  working, 
the  Aspatria  (Cumberland)  Agricultural  Co- 
operative Society,  established  in  1869,  and  still 
in  active  operation,  was  one  of  the  earliest 
representatives  in  England  (if  not  actually  the 
first)  of  what  may  be  called  the  "  Continental " 
type ;  but  though  a  few  others  may  also  have 
been  formed,  all  these  must  be  regarded  as 
isolated  efforts  rather  than  as  constituting  any 
approach,  in  even  the  most  modest  way,  to  a 
national  movement  in  favour  of  co-operative,  as 
against  purely  joint  stock,  combinations. 

It  was  the  National  Agricultural  Union,  with 
which  the  late  Lord  Winchilsea  was  associated, 
that  constituted  the  first  real  effort  to  organize 
British  agriculturists  on  a  national  basis ;  and  it 
was  the  British  Produce  Supply  Association, 


FIRST  ATTEMPTS  291 

founded  by  the  same  gentleman,  that  formed 
the  most  ambitious  attempt  yet  made  in  Eng- 
land to  create  a  direct  bond  of  union  between 
farmers  and  consumers.  The  National  Agri- 
cultural Union  had  expressed  the  aspiration  of 
eventually  assisting  in  the  organization  of  local 
co-operative  societies  for  the  purchase  of  neces- 
saries, for  the  sale  of  produce,  for  credit,  and  for 
assurance ;  but  in  point  of  fact,  little  or  nothing 
was  done  on  these  lines,  and  the  members  de- 
veloped tendencies  in  favour,  rather,  of  a  policy 
of  protection,  while  the  Union  adopted  the  prac- 
tice of  approaching  Parliamentary  candidates, 
and  calling  upon  them  to  either  accept  a  par- 
ticular programme  or  look  out  for  opposition. 
With  political  leanings  such  as  these,  the  Union 
failed  to  convince  the  agriculturists  that  it  was 
a  practical  body,  and  it  gradually  drifted  into 
the  position  of  a  negligible  quantity. 

The  British  Produce  Supply  Association, 
formed  in  1896,  was  a  distinctly  interesting 
effort,  and  one  that  aroused  much  sympathetic 
interest  at  the  time.  Lord  Winchilsea's  idea 
was  that  produce  collected  at  certain  depots  in 
the  country  districts  should  be  sold  in  London 
in  such  a  way  that  the  public  could  depend  on 
getting  British  -  grown  fruit,  vegetables,  etc., 
while  the  farmers  would  be  enabled  to  get  larger 


292  ENGLAND   AND   WALES 

profits  through  the  abolition  of  the  middle- 
man. It  was  an  ambitious  scheme,  and  one 
which  should  have  represented  the  climax  rather 
than  the  commencement  of  agricultural  organi- 
zation, many  of  the  most  powerful  agricultural 
bodies  on  the  Continent  having  found,  indeed, 
that  while  co-operation  for  purposes  of  produc- 
tion is  eminently  practicable,  co-operative  sale 
is  a  very  different  problem,  and  one  full  of  diffi- 
culties. Lord  Winchilsea,  however,  was  sanguine 
of  success,  and  he  raised  capital  that  eventually 
stood  at  £50,000.  One-fifth  of  this  sum  was 
paid  out  on  the  initial  expenses,  which  included 
the  opening  of  commodious  and  well-arranged 
stores  in  Long  Acre,  where  a  retail  business  was 
to  be  carried  on  in  addition  to  a  wholesale 
business  in  the  adjoining  Covent  Garden  market. 
At  first  the  prospects  appeared  extremely 
hopeful.  Lord  Winchilsea's  friends  and  sympa- 
thizers gave  him  loyal  support,  and  began  to 
patronize  the  Long  Acre  establishment  in  a 
way  that  filled  some  of  the  West-end  traders 
with  alarm.  But  these  well-intentioned  patrons 
were  soon  discouraged.  Experience  showed 
that  British  farmers  could  not  be  depended 
on  to  forward  regular  consignments  to  the 
depot,  and  that  those  which  they  did  send  in 
represented,  too  often,  either  second  or  third- 


AN   UNFORTUNATE   ENTERPRISE  293 

rate  qualities,  their  best  having  gone  to  the 
ordinary  commission  agents  or  dealers.  West- 
end  patrons  found,  therefore,  that  not  only  was 
it  inconvenient  to  go  to  Long  Acre  for  their 
supplies,  but  they  could  not  depend  sufficiently 
on  them  if  they  did. 

Hence  the  patronage  of  the  central  depot  fell 
off,  and  there  came  a  time  when  the  losses  on 
a  business  which,  as  the  result  proved,  had  been 
started  both  in  the  wrong  place  and  on  too 
large  a  scale,  amounted  to  £250  a  week.  Nor 
was  any  greater  degree  of  success  gained  from 
the  wholesale  department  in  Covent  Garden 
market.  In  June,  1899,  the  central  depot  was 
removed  from  Long  Acre  to  Lower  Seymour 
Street,  Portman  Square,  so  as  to  be  nearer  to 
West-end  patrons  ;  but  fifteen  months  later  the 
original  association  was  wound  up,  and  a  new 
one,  with  a  modest  capital  of  £6,000,  in  £1 
shares  (17*.  6d  paid  up),  held  by  some  half- 
dozen  persons,  took  over  the  Lower  Seymour 
Street  concern.  But  the  new  association  works 
on  different  lines  from  those  of  the  old.  It 
receives  nothing  but  eggs  direct  from  the 
farmers.  The  idea  of  operating  with  a  com- 
bination of  farmers  in  the  country  for  general 
supplies  was  abandoned,  not  so  much,  perhaps, 
on  account  of  difficulties  such  as  those  stated 


294  ENGLAND   AND   WALES 

above  (for  these  might  have  been  surmounted), 
but  because  a  single  establishment  would  not 
always  be  able  to  absorb  the  quantities  coming 
to  hand.  It  was  thought  better  for  all  parties 
that  the  farmers  should  send  their  produce  to 
Covent  Garden  market,  and  that  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Lower  Seymour  Street  depot 
should  there  purchase  such  quantities  as  the 
establishment  thought  it  could  dispose  of,  the 
surplus  remaining  in  the  wholesale  market  to 
be  sold  there  to  those  who  wanted  it,  instead 
of  being  left  on  the  hands  of  the  association. 

Thus  the  final  outcome  of  a  costly  experi- 
ment was  to  stamp  as  impracticable  a  scheme 
to  which  Lord  Winchilsea,  with  a  most  earnest 
desire  to  improve  the  lot  of  the  British  farmer, 
had  devoted  a  vast  amount  of  energy.  If  he 
had  first  seen  to  the  organization  of  the  farmers 
into  registered  local  co-operative  societies,  and 
then,  when  he  had  produced  the  desired  results 
(such  as  levelling  up  the  quality  of  produce, 
meeting  market  requirements,  etc.),  had  set 
about  forming  a  central  depot  in  London  with 
which  all  these  local  societies  could  have  been 
affiliated,  a  very  different  result  would  probably 
have  followed.  As  it  was,  a  well-meant  project 
failed,  a  substantial  sum  of  money  was  lost, 
and  a  very  decided  discouragement  was  given 


PRACTICAL   LINES   AT   LAST  295 

to   the  idea  of  "agricultural   combination"  in 
general. 

Meanwhile  the  position  of  the  National  Agri- 
cultural Union  had  not  improved,  and  the  time 
came  when  this  organization,  also,  was  to  be  re- 
constructed. On  the  death  of  Lord  Winchilsea 
Lord  Templetown  succeeded  to  the  presidency 
of  the  Union.  He  was  followed  by  Mr.  R.  A. 
Yerburgh,  M.P.,  who,  in  December,  1900, 
brought  before  the  members  a  proposal  that 
they  should  enter  upon  what  he  described  as 
"an  entirely  new  field  of  action — a  field  of 
action  which  the  Union  had  never  had  in  view 
before."  His  scheme  was,  in  effect,  that  the 
Union  should  adopt  the  teaching  and  the 
methods  of  agricultural  co-operation  already  so 
successfully  followed  in  Continental  countries, 
abandoning  both  politics  and  risky  experiments, 
and  proceeding  upon  strictly  practical  lines. 
The  proposal  thus  made  was  approved,  and  the 
Union  arranged  to  amalgamate  with,  and  (but 
for  the  first  word)  adopt  the  title  of  the 
"  British  Agricultural  Organization  Society," 
which  had  been  established  at  Newark,  Lin- 
colnshire, by  Mr.  W.  L.  Charleton,  as  the  out- 
come of  a  close  personal  inquiry  he  had  made 
into  the  working  of  the  Irish  system  of  agricul- 
tural combination. 


296  ENGLAND   AND  WALES 

So,  in  April,  1901,  there  was  at  last  started  a 
really  effective  organization  for  the  purpose  of 
spreading  throughout  Great  Britain  some 
approach  to  the  system  of  agricultural  co- 
operation carried  on  so  long  and  so  successfully 
by  other  countries,  which,  availing  themselves 
of  their  increased  production,  were  by  that  time 
flooding  our  markets  to  a  greater  extent  than 
ever  with  their  surplus  supplies.  With  modest 
funds  that  well  deserve  to  be  augmented,  the 
Agricultural  Organization  Society,  operating 
from  its  headquarters  at  Dacre  House,  Dacre 
Street,  Westminster,  has  already  accomplished 
a  considerable  amount  of  good  work.  The 
objects  of  the  society  (of  which  Mr.  R.  A.  Yer- 
burgh,  M.P.,  is  president,  and  Mr.  T.  A.  Brassey 
chairman  of  the  executive  committee)  are  : — 

To  secure  the  co-operation  of  all  connected  with  the 
land,  whether  as  owners,  occupiers,  or  labourers,  and  to  pro- 
mote the  formation  of  Agricultural  Co-operative  Societies 
for  the  purchase  of  requisites,  for  the  sale  of  produce,  for 
Agricultural  Credit  Banking  and  Insurance,  and  for  all 
other  forms  of  co-operation  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture. 

The  actual  work  of  the  society  is  carried  out — 

(1)  By  sending  organizers  to  address  meetings  and  to 
give  advice  as  to  the  proper  course  to  be  pursued  in  the 
formation  of  local  societies. 

(2)  By  providing  model  rules  which  have  been  found 
by  experience  to  be  the  best  working  rules  for  all  similar 
societies. 


OBJECTS   AND   METHODS  297 

(3)  By  sending  lecturers,  when  desired,  to  affiliated  and 
other  societies. 

(4)  By  acting  as  an  information  bureau  to  affiliated 
societies. 

(5)  By  acting  as  arbitrator  in  disputes  that  may  arise 
in  the  affiliated  societies. 

(6)  By  assisting  in  all  ways  possible  the  furtherance  of 
combined  action  between  the  various  affiliated  societies  in 
trading  matters. 

(7)  By  publishing  leaflets  and  circulars  from  time  to 
time,  dealing  with  the  various  forms  of  agricultural  co- 
operation. 

There  were  affiliated  with  the  central  organiza- 
tion in  London  on  December  31st,  1903,  a  total 
of  seventy  local  agricultural  societies  of  bona  fide 
farmers,  the  whole  of  these  local  bodies,  with  the 
exception  of  twelve,  having  been  formed  since 
the  Agricultural  Organization  Society  came  into 
existence  in  1901.  The  membership  at  the  end 
of  1903  was  between  5,000  and  6,000.  These 
figures  represent  a  rate  of  progress  far  in  excess 
of  what  was  secured  in  the  early  days  of  the  Irish 
movement,  and  they  suggest  that  the  British 
farmer  is,  at  last,  really  awakening  to  the 
realities  of  his  position,  and  is  now  fully  pre- 
pared to  take  action,  if  only  someone  will  show 
him  the  way. 

The  local  agricultural  societies  are  strictly 
co-operative  bodies,  registered  under  the  Indus- 
trial and  Provident  Societies  Act,  thus  affording 


298  ENGLAND   AND   WALES 

a  contrast  to  the  various  farmers'  clubs  (which 
are  only  voluntary  associations)  and  to  the  com- 
binations of  the  aforesaid  commercial  type.  The 
last-mentioned  are  registered  under  the  Joint 
Stock  Companies  Act.  They  pay  more  or  less 
generous  fees  in  salaries  to  directors,  managers, 
and  officials,  and  they  work  over  an  unlimited 
area  for  the  profit  of  shareholders ;  whereas  the 
co-operative  agricultural  societies  pay  no  fees  or 
salaries  (except,  perhaps,  a  very  small  sum  given 
to  the  secretary  or  manager),  they  keep  to  a 
clearly  defined  area  in  their  operations  (generally 
from  seven  to  ten  miles),  and  they  seek  to  pro- 
mote the  general  welfare  of  the  members  rather 
than  to  provide  dividends.  A  classified  list  of 
fifty-four  of  the  seventy  affiliated  with  the 
central  organization  at  Dacre  House  shows  their 
particular  purposes  to  be  as  follows  : — 

Agricultural  supply     .             .             .         .  31 
Societies  combining  supply  of  requirements 

and  sale  of  produce          .  8 

Cheesemaking              .             .  3 

Dairy  and  bottled  milk            .  3 

Rural  industries           .             .  1 

Allotment  and  small  holding  .  3 
Societies  combining  supply  of  requirements 

and  the  improvement  of  live-stock       .  3 
Poultry  and  egg           .             .             . 

Improvement  of  cart  horses    .  1 

54 


AIMS   FOR   THE   FUTURE  299 

The  central  association  encourages  the  forma- 
tion of  a  number  of  small  local  societies  rather 
than  that  of  one  or  two  large  societies  in  each 
county.  It  is  found  that  a  wide-spread  interest 
in  agricultural  organization  results  from  these 
small  societies.  When  a  sufficient  number  of 
them  have  been  formed  in  a  county,  they  will 
be  combined  into  a  county  federation,  at  the 
head  of  which  will,  if  practicable,  stand  the 
society  occupying  the  most  central  situation ; 
and  when  federations  have  been  formed  in  a 
number  of  neighbouring  counties  they,  in  turn, 
will  be  associated  in  a  still  larger  federation 
among  themselves.  In  this  way  Great  Britain 
will  eventually  be  divided  into  several  clearly 
defined  sections,  each  having  its  committee  and 
secretary,  and  each  being  represented  by  dele- 
gates on  the  central  body  in  London. 

Developed  on  lines  which  Continental  ex- 
perience has  shown  to  be  thoroughly  sound 
and  practical,  there  should  thus  eventually  be 
brought  into  existence  a  non-political  organiza- 
tion of  farmers  which  must  have  far-reaching 
effects  on  the  future  of  British  agriculture.  It 
should,  however,  be  understood  that  the  Agri- 
cultural Organization  Society,  like  the  Irish 
Agricultural  Organization  Society,  is  a  purely 
propagandist  body,  and  not  itself  a  trading  one, 


300  ENGLAND   AND   WALES 

leaving,  as  it  will  do,  the  local  societies  and  their 
federations  to  arrange  matters  of  business  for 
their  members.  It  is  further  deserving  of  men- 
tion that  no  questions  of  religion  or  politics  are 
allowed  to  enter  into  the  conduct  of  the  move- 
ment, Rule  43  of  the  central  organization  ex- 
pressly providing  that — 

No  religious  or  political  question  shall  be  introduced  at 
any  meeting  of  the  Society,  and  no  action  of  the  Society 
shall  be  directed  towards  the  propagation  of  any  political 
or  religious  doctrines,  or  the  advancement  of  the  interests 
of  any  political  party  or  religious  body. 

There  is  much  of  interest  that  could  be  told 
concerning  the  local  agricultural  associations  as 
showing  the  really  practical  nature  of  the  ser- 
vices they  render.  The  Aspatria  Society,  for 
instance,  has  arranged  sales  representing  a 
total  of  over  £500,000  since  it  started  opera- 
tions— a  fact  which  suggests  that  when  the 
county  federations  come  to  be  formed  they 
should  be  in  a  position  to  effect  considerable 
economies  in  the  purchase  of  agricultural  neces- 
saries in  wholesale  quantities.  On  the  other 
hand  an  excellent  example  of  what  can  be  done 
in  a  small  way  is  afforded  by  the  Muskham 
(Notts)  Co-operative  Agricultural  Society.  This 
village  organization  was  started  in  1899  with 
seven  members  and  a  secretary,  and  several 


SOME   PRACTICAL  EXAMPLES  301 

months  elapsed  before  the  membership  was 
increased.  The  shares  were  5s.  each,  Is.  3d. 
being  called  up.  Just  prior  to  the  harvest 
of  1899  the  society  resolved  to  purchase  a 
"  reaper  and  binder  "  at  a  cost  of  £32  (although 
their  paid-up  capital  was  then  only  £15),  and 
the  members  obtained  an  advance  from  a  local 
bank  on  their  giving  a  guarantee  to  hold  them- 
selves collectively  and  individually  responsible 
for  repayment.  A  scale  of  charges  for  the  use 
of  the  machine  was  drawn  up,  and  the  receipts 
have  since  then  been  sufficient  to  clear  off  the 
loan,  so  that  the  machine  now  belongs  to  the 
society,  and  the  further  income  derived  from  it 
over  and  above  wear  and  tear  represents  so 
much  profit. 

The  Framlingham  and  District  Agricultural 
Co-operative  Society,  brought  into  existence  by 
the  Agricultural  Organization  Society  in  May, 
1903,  has  pioneered  the  movement  in  Suffolk, 
and  was  able  to  show  a  good  record  for  the  first 
six  months  of  its  operations.  By  the  end  of 
1903  it  had  secured  the  adhesion  of  114  mem- 
bers, who  were  holders  of  1,600  shares,  and 
it  had  done  a  considerable  trade  in  linseed  and 
cotton  cake,  coal,  and  agricultural  implements. 
The  members  had  also  been  supplied  with 
manures,  seeds,  corrugated  iron,  wire-netting, 


302  ENGLAND  AND  WALES 

and  binder  twine,  and  other  goods.  The  egg 
department  had  been  most  successful,  over 
56,000  eggs  having  been  despatched  to  the 
orders  of  the  National  Poultry  Society.  The 
accounts  showed  a  profit  of  6|  per  cent.,  after 
allowing  for  all  initial  expenses,  on  a  turn-over 
of  £1,136  for  the  half-year. 

In  the  county  of  Worcester,  especially,  agri- 
cultural co-operation  is  now  becoming  a  dis- 
tinctly active  force.  The  very  great  initial 
difficulty  of  inducing  the  farmers  to  set  aside  the 
traditions,  habits,  and  prejudices  of  generations 
has  been  so  far  overcome  that  several  excellent 
associations  have  been  started  and  are  in  good 
working  order,  while  even  those  Worcestershire 
agriculturists  who  still  regard  co-operative  effort 
with  a  lingering  mistrust  are  beginning  to  think 
there  is  "  something  in  it,"  after  all.  At  Bewd- 
ley  a  co-operative  association  started  by  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Agricultural  Organization 
Society  in  May,  1902,  has  rented  a  large  ware- 
house where  fruit  and  vegetables  are  collected, 
graded,  and  re-packed,  the  questions  of  sorting 
and  of  suitable  packages  having  been  rightly 
regarded  as  of  primary  importance  for  the  local 
producers  if  they  are  to  succeed  in  the  markets 
where  the  association  further  seeks  to  push  their 
produce.  Thanks  to  such  combined  effort,  also, 


ILLUSTRATIONS   FROM   WORCESTERSHIRE     303 

a  threatened  serious  fall  in  the  prices  for  both 
fruit  and  vegetables,  which  individuals  would 
have  been  powerless  to  prevent,  has  been 
checked.  Then,  beyond  the  ordinary  functions 
of  an  agricultural  co-operative  association,  the 
Bewdley  society  has  provided  its  members  with 
a  well-arranged  "  swim-bath,"  with  drying  floor, 
pens,  etc.,  where  they  can  have  their  sheep 
"dipped,"  without  trouble  or  risk,  at  Id.  per 
sheep — a  moderate  charge  which,  nevertheless, 
leaves  a  margin  of  profit  for  the  association. 

At  Far  Forest,  four  miles  from  Bewdley,  there 
is  a  village  agricultural  society  which  obtains,  at 
wholesale  prices,  and  to  the  extent  of  about 
£1,500  a  year,  all  kinds  of  necessaries  for  the 
local  farmers,  and  helps  them  with  the  sale  of 
their  poultry,  fruit,  eggs,  etc.  The  members  of 
the  committee  represent  six  different  religious 
denominations,  but  there  has  never  yet  been  any 
friction.  "Vicars  Farm,  Ltd.,"  organized  in  the 
summer  of  1902  by  the  Rev.  G.  F.  Eyre,  vicar 
of  Far  Forest,  as  a  separate  co-operative  society, 
was  started  with  the  idea  of  conducting  a  poultry 
farm  ;  but  its  main  business  to-day  is  the  control 
of  a  dairy  which  collects  milk  from  its  members, 
and  distributes  it  in  the  form  of  bottles  of  ster- 
ilized milk,  cream,  and  skim-milk  to  customers 
over  a  considerable  area. 


304  ENGLAND   AND   WALES 

Not  only  did  the  vicar  of  Far  Forest  and  his 
family  take  a  large  number  of  shares  in  the 
society,  but  the  farmers  were  organized  by  him ; 
he  is  the  very  active  president  of  the  concern, 
in  the  management  of  which  he  is  helped  by  a 
committee  of  four  ;  he  keeps  fowls  himself  both 
for  sale  and  show ;  he  grows  raspberries  on  two 
and  a  quarter  acres  of  land  ;  and  he  is  a  member 
of  the  Far  Forest  Supply  Association,  helping 
the  farmers  to  effect  their  purchases  in  the 
cheapest  and  best  markets,  and  giving  them, 
generally,  the  benefit  of  his  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience. A  further  development  in  the  same 
district  has  been  the  formation,  on  co-operative 
lines,  of  the  "  Far  Forest  Pure  Water  Supply 
Association,  Ltd."  The  fruit-growing  and  other 
industries  in  this  corner  of  Worcestershire  had 
been  much  hampered  by  an  insufficient  supply 
of  water  from  the  local  wells,  and  cattle 
and  horses  had  to  be  driven  long  distances 
to  obtain  good  drinking  water.  The  "  Far 
Forest  Pure  Water  Supply  Association"  was, 
therefore,  on  the  initiation  of  Mr.  Eyre,  founded 
with  the  object  of  sinking  an  artesian  well  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  small  holders  of  the 
district.  A  supply  equal  to  500  gallons  per 
hour  was  tapped  at  a  depth  of  200  feet,  but 
it  was- resolved  to  continue  the  sinking  until 


OPPOSING  A  "RING"  305 

a  supply  of  1,000  gallons  per  hour  had  been 
obtained. 

The  most  striking  proof  of  all,  however,  of  the 
progress  that  agricultural  co-operation  is  making 
in  Worcestershire  is  afforded  by  the  recent 
formation — with  Stourport  as  its  headquarters 
—of  the  "  Midland  Counties  Agricultural  Supply 
Association,  Ltd."  This  society  is  the  outcome 
of  opposition  to  the  alleged  "ring"  of  implement 
dealers  in  the  Midlands,  whose  policy  the 
Worcestershire  Chamber  of  Agriculture,  in  con- 
junction with  the  Agricultural  Organization 
Society,  decided  to  try  to  checkmate.  A  sub- 
committee was  appointed  to  go  into  the  whole 
matter,  and  then  the  business  of  a  local  firm 
of  implement-makers  was  bought  up,  and  con- 
verted into  a  co-operative  undertaking.  The 
amount  of  business  done  by  the  association  since 
it  was  formed  is  regarded  as  most  satisfactory, 
and  the  "  ring  "  is  considered  to  have  received  a 
serious  set-back  in  the  Midland  Counties. 

There  are  many  other  interesting  phases  of  the 
general  movement  in  England,  but  1  must  now 
content  myself  with  only  two  further  examples. 
One  of  these  is  that  of  the  Newark  Dairy,  Ltd., 
at  Long  Bennington,  Lincolnshire,  which  re- 
presents the  result  of  a  very  persistent  effort 
made  by  Mr.  W.  L.  Charleton  (now  one  of  the 


306  ENGLAND   AND   WALES 

vice-presidents  of  the  Agricultural  Organization 
Society)  to  group  the  farmers  of  the  district  into 
an  association  for  providing  the  towns  of  Newark 
and  Grantham  with  an  "up-to-date"  milk 
supply.  The  milk  is  bought  from  the  farmers 
at  a  price  which  has  averaged,  since  the  society 
was  formed,  l\d.  per  gallon  ;  it  is  filtered,  bottled, 
and  pasteurized,  and  the  bottles,  hermetically 
sealed,  are  sent  off  to  the  customers,  who  find 
this  method  a  great  improvement  on  the  ordinary 
practice  in  regard  to  milk  supply.  Between 
January  1st  and  December  31st,  1903,  over 
12,000  gallons  of  milk  were  distributed  in  this 
way,  the  farmers  getting  much  better  profits 
than  if  each  had  acted  independently  of  the 
other.  The  association  has  now  enlarged  its 
premises  by  purchasing  an  adjoining  public-house 
(the  licence  of  which  was  about  to  lapse)  and  the 
four  acres  of  land  adjoining.  One  room  of  this 
former  inn  it  will  convert  into  a  "  cyclists'  rest," 
while  another  will  be  utilized  as  a  library  and 
reading-room,  representing  a  little  centre  for  the 
general  revival  of  village  life  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. 

My  last  example  in  this  connection  is  that  of 
the  Scalford  Dairy,  Ltd.,  an  association  which 
was  registered  in  April,  1903,  for  the  starting  at 
Scalford,  near  Melton  Mowbray,  Leicester,  of 


A   FARMERS'    FEDERATION    IN   WALES      307 

the  first  and  only  co-operative  factory  that  yet 
exists  in  Great  Britain  for  the  making  exclu- 
sively of  Stilton  cheese.  It  constitutes  a  genuine 
attempt  on  the  part  of  Leicestershire  farmers  to 
combine  their  forces  in  competition  with  the 
proprietary  cheese  factories,  with  a  view  to  their 
obtaining  a  better  return  from  their  raw  ma- 
terials, and  they  have  entered  into  the  scheme 
with  great  heartiness.  The  Duke  of  Rutland 
let  them  have  a  large  building  in  the  village,  at 
the  low  rental  of  £16  a  year,  for  the  purposes  of 
a  dairy  and  store,  and  the  farmers  themselves 
did  all  the  carting  of  the  materials  required  for 
the  various  alterations.  The  cheeses  that  have 
been  made  have  sold  well,  and  the  society  pro- 
mises to  be  a  success. 

Wales  must,  perhaps,  be  regarded  as  having 
shot  ahead  of  England,  for  while  the  latter 
country  has  at  present  only  local  co-operative 
societies,  affiliated  to  the  central  organization  in 
London,  the  former  has  now  a  "  Welsh  Farmers' 
Federation"  of  agricultural  co-operative  socie- 
ties. The  main  purpose  of  this  federation  is  to 
bulk  the  orders  for  farmers'  necessaries  collected 
by  the  individual  societies.  Of  these  there  were 
20  at  the  end  of  1903,  the  membership  being 
about  3,000.  With  one  exception,  the  whole  of 
the  Welsh  societies  are  co-operative  trading 


308  ENGLAND  AND  WALES 

organizations.  The  movement  is  taking  strong 
hold  among  the  Welsh  farmers,  who  are  begin- 
ning to  realize  the  need  there  is  for  them  to 
study  the  business  aspects  of  their  industry.  A 
special  feature  of  the  campaign  in  Wales  is  that 
the  opening  of  a  store  by  each  society,  under 
the  charge  of  a  manager,  is  found  essential  to 
success ;  while  as  the  societies  get  firmly  estab- 
lished they  develop  other  lines  of  usefulness, 
among  them  being  the  improvement  of  live- 
stock, the  disposal  of  members'  produce,  the 
acquiring  of  weighbridges,  etc. 

Among  the  most  successful  of  the  Welsh 
societies  is  the  one  formed  in  the  Vale  of  Tivy, 
West  Cardiganshire.  This  society  increased  its 
turn-over  from  £700  in  1901  to  £6,000  in  1902, 
when  the  balance-sheet  showed  that,  after  pay- 
ing all  expenses,  and  after  having  already  en- 
abled the  members  to  share  in  the  profits,  there 
was  a  surplus  of  £300  over  and  above  the  capital 
originally  invested.  The  membership  of  the 
society  is  about  600,  mostly  "  small "  people, 
whose  individual  purchases  of  maize,  meal,  bran, 
etc.,  nevertheless  swell  in  a  surprising  degree  the 
sum  total  of  the  business  done.  In  1902  the 
society  grouped  the  Christmas  poultry  of  its 
members,  and  disposed  of  it  at  a  good  figure, 
breaking  up  an  old  "  goose  fair  ring,"  which  had 


SOME  WELSH   SUCCESSES  309 

previously  kept  the  prices  down  to  a  level  that 
was  absurdly  low.  The  same  society  has  now 
undertaken  the  sale  of  pigs  for  its  members, 
sending  over  50  animals  per  week  to  the  London 
market.  The  Emlyn  Society  has  also  been  very 
successful  in  selling  Christmas  poultry  in  bulk, 
and  has  increased  its  turn -over  from  a  few 
hundred  pounds  the  year  to  £3,000. 

Of  the  other  societies,  one  at  Lledrod,  which 
started  with  only  eight  members,  has  now  70, 
almost  every  farm  in  the  parish  being  repre- 
sented in  it;  the  Fishguard  and  Goodwick  has 
given  an  order  for  nearly  400  tons  of  superphos- 
phate for  its  members,  this  representing  the 
largest  grouped  order,  so  far,  of  any  single  agri- 
cultural society  in  Wales ;  and  the  store  of  the 
Carmarthen  society  is  doing  a  business  equal  to 
£100  a  week,  and  has  brought  about  a  general 
reduction  in  the  prices  of  agricultural  necessaries 
in  the  district. 

All  this  looks  sufficiently  promising ;  but, 
thanks  to  their  new  federation,  the  Welsh 
societies  can  now  arrange  their  purchases  to  still 
better  advantage.  The  first  contract  made  by 
the  federation  was  for  the  delivery  of  from  1,500 
to  2,000  tons  of  basic  slag,  and  the  total  amount 
of  the  business  done  by  the  federation  in  1903 
was  £25,000.  Wales  has  further  distinguished 


310  ENGLAND  AND  WALES 

herself  by  the  fact  that  Prof.  D.  D.  Williams 
has  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  at  University 
College,  Aberystwyth,  on  "Agricultural  Co- 
operation." Through  the  liberality  of  Mr. 
Augustus  Brigstocke,  two  scholarships  of  £10 
each  have  been  awarded  in  connection  with  these 
lectures,  which  are  to  be  an  annual  institution 
at  the  College. 

Agricultural  organization  on  essentially  prac- 
tical lines  has  thus  at  last  made  a  fair  start 
in  England  and  Wales,  and  it  has  done  so  in 
a  way  that  already  offers  abundant  scope  for 
a  revision  of  the  popular  idea  that  it  is  hopeless 
to  expect  the  British  farmers  to  combine  as 
those  in  other  countries  are  doing.  Still,  the 
work  thus  far  done  has  amounted  mainly  to 
preparing  the  foundations  for  a  really  national 
effort ;  and  although  these  foundations  have  now 
been  laid,  after  an  infinitude  of  trouble,  the  con- 
struction of  the  edifice  to  be  reared  thereon  will 
not  proceed  at  the  rate  it  should  unless  the 
builders  receive  a  larger  degree  of  support  in 
the  provision  of  funds  for  propaganda  purposes 
than  has  been  the  case  hitherto. 

Another  factor  in  the  situation  is  the  absolute 
need  that  agricultural  credit  should  go  hand-in- 
hand  with  agricultural  organization.  The  ne- 
cessity for  this  dual  arrangement  has  been 


AGRICULTURAL   CREDIT  311 

proved  over  and  over  again  on  the  Continent  of 
Europe,  and  though  the  financial  position  of 
British  agriculturists  in  general  may  be  more 
favourable  than  that  of  the  peasantry  in  vari- 
ous other  countries  where  an  easy  agricultural 
credit  was  established  years  ago,  the  extreme 
desirability  of  such  credit  being  available  in 
Great  Britain,  also,  is  beyond  any  possible 
doubt. 

Happily,  here  again  a  good  commencement 
has  been  made  by  the  Co-operative  Banks 
Association,  whose  headquarters  are  at  29,  Old 
Queen  Street,  Westminster,  S.W.  The  pur- 
pose of  this  association  is  to  establish  both  town 
and  country  co-operative  banks,  the  former 
being  registered  under  the  Industrial  and  Provi- 
dent Societies  Acts,  and  issuing  £1  shares,  paid 
for  in  weekly  instalments  of  6d. ;  while  the 
latter  are  registered  under  the  Friendly  Societies 
Act,  and  borrow  money  from  the  Central  Banks 
Committee  on  the  collective  credit  of  the  mem- 
bers (as  the  town  banks  do  on  the  credit  of  their 
shares)  for  the  purpose  of  making  small  advances 
for  productive  purposes.  These  country  co- 
operative banks  are,  in  fact,  of  that  Raiffeisen 
type  which  has  already  conferred  such  inestim- 
able benefits  on  so  many  countries  abroad,  and 
their  adaptability  to  the  requirements  of  the 


3i2  ENGLAND  AND  WALES 

small  cultivator,  the  village  tradesman,  and  the 
labourer  in  the  rural  districts  of  England  has 
been  abundantly  proved  by  the  eleven  village 
banks  which  have  already  been  established,  four 
of  them  being  in  Leicestershire,  two  in  Wor- 
cestershire, two  in  Norfolk,  and  one  each  in 
Hampshire,  Nottinghamshire,  and  Leicester- 
shire. Where  these  banks  exist  there  is  no 
need  for  individuals  of  the  classes  mentioned  to 
resort  to  the  professional  money-lender,  and 
loans  of  from  £2  to  £10  or  £20  can  be  readily 
obtained  by  honest  and  deserving  toilers  for  the 
purchase  of  live-stock,  fertilizers,  or  implements, 
the  repairing  of  glass-houses,  and  other  purposes. 
The  little  timely  help  thus  granted  has,  in  many 
instances,  been  of  practical  service,  while  in  every 
case  the  instalments  have  been  punctually  re- 
paid. There  is  room  for  hundreds  more  of  such 
village  banks  in  England,  and  until  they  have 
been  established  no  complete  system  of  agri- 
cultural organization  can  be  hoped  for.  While, 
however,  village  banks  of  this  type  are  calcu- 
lated to  fully  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
"small"  agriculturists,  they  are  not  likely,  on 
their  present  basis,  to  answer  the  purposes  of 
farmers  who  conduct  operations  on  a  large  or 
a  fairly  large  scale,  and  it  is  foreseen  that  for 
them  a  different  kind  of  agricultural  credit  will 


PUBLIC  AUTHORITIES  313 

have  to  be  created.  To  this  point  I  shall  revert 
in  the  concluding  chapter. 

Still  another  body  well  deserving  of  public 
support  is  the  National  Poultry  Organization 
Society,  which  from  its  headquarters  at  12, 
Hanover  Square,  W.,  is  striving  to  encourage 
and  develop  the  production  of  the  best  qualities 
of  poultry  and  eggs  in  the  United  Kingdom,  and 
bring  producers  into  more  direct  communication 
with  retailers,  "thus  organizing  the  system  of 
marketing  which  at  the  present  time  in  respect 
of  many  parts  of  the  country  compares  so 
unfavourably  with  the  methods  adopted  by 
foreigners  who  have  perfected  their  organiza- 
tions and  practically  captured  the  British 
markets." 

In  regard  to  the  action  of  public  authorities 
in  England  a  concession  which  ought  to  be  of 
considerable  advantage  was  made  in  1902,  when 
the  Board  of  Education  authorized  the  teaching 
of  the  "  principles  and  practice  of  agricultural 
co-operation  "  under  the  Technical  Instruction 
Act  of  1889.  This  concession  was  made  on  the 
application  of  the  Agricultural  sub-Committee 
of  the  Buckinghamshire  County  Council,  sup- 
ported by  the  Agricultural  Organization  Society. 
It  was  followed  by  the  appointment,  through 
the  society,  of  an  agricultural  organizer  by  the 


3i4  ENGLAND   AND   WALES 

Buckinghamshire  Technical  Instruction  Com- 
mittee for  a  period  of  three  months,  a  co- 
operative agricultural  society  being  formed, 
with  the  town  of  Buckingham  as  its  centre. 
The  committee  have  now  arranged  that  if  an 
application  should  be  received  from  any  par- 
ticular district  in  the  county  for  an  organizer  to 
visit  the  farmers  and  give  them  advice,  the  cen- 
tral society  shall  be  asked  to  send  such  organizer 
there,  his  expenses  being  paid  according  to  a 
specified  scale.  Then  the  Agricultural  sub- 
Committee  of  the  Lancashire  County  Council 
have  resolved :  "  That  '  the  principles  and 
practice  of  agricultural  co-operation '  be  put 
on  the  list  of  subjects  that  may  be  taught  by 
the  Technical  Instruction  Committee,  and,  in 
the  event  of  application  from  any  locality, 
that  the  Agricultural  Organization  Society  be 
at  once  communicated  with  ;  that  in  the  mean- 
time the  Principal  of  Agriculture  communicate 
with  the  secretary  of  the  Agricultural  Organiza- 
tion Society,  and  ascertain  approximately  the 
terms  and  conditions  upon  which  a  competent 
person  experienced  in  agricultural  co-operative 
work  could  be  supplied."  To  this  it  may  be 
added  that  the  Cardiganshire,  Carmarthenshire, 
and  Staffordshire  County  Councils  have  obtained 
the  sanction  of  the  Board  of  Education  to  their 


BOARD   OF   AGRICULTURE  315 

giving  instruction  in  agricultural  co-operation ; 
while  the  Notts  County  Council  included  in  their 
scheme  of  technical  instruction  for  1903-4, 
among  some  "  Informal  Talks  and  Discussions 
on  Practical  Subjects  with  Farmers,"  such  topics 
as  "Farmers'  Clubs  and  Co-operation,"  and 
"  Co-operation  in  Dairy  Work." 

Cordial  recognition  must  be  given,  also,  to  the 
very  earnest  efforts  which  have  been  made  by 
the  Board  of  Agriculture  to  promote  organiza- 
tion among  the  farmers  of  the  country,  and  to 
advance  the  interests  of  agriculture  in  other 
ways  besides.  But  while  there  is  much  that  the 
Board  of  Agriculture  can  do,  the  powers  of  that 
body  are  necessarily  limited,  and  it  is  undesir- 
able in  the  extreme  that  the  agriculturists  of  the 
country  should  rely  too  much  on  the  help  of  the 
State  in  those  particular  matters  where  they  can 
very  well  act  for  themselves,  provided  only  they 
show  the  necessary  initiative  and  energy. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

A   GERMAN  VIEW  OF   ENGLISH 
AGRICULTURE 

IN  the  Jalirbucli  jur  Nationalokonomie  und 
Statistik  (Jena  :  Gustav  Fischer)  there  is  a 
very  clear  and  comprehensive  survey,  by  Dr. 
Hermann  Levy,  of  "  The  Present  Position  of 
English  Agriculture,"  which  deserves  the  atten- 
tion of  English  as  well  as  of  German  readers. 

A  belief  in  the  ruin  of  British  agriculture,  as 
the  ultimate  outcome  of  the  fall  in  the  price 
of  wheat,  is,  Dr.  Levy  says,  widespread  in 
Germany,  and  it  has  been  especially  fostered 
by  the  Parliamentary  inquiries  made  into  the 
subject  in  this  country  in  the  middle  of  the 
nineties,  when  the  general  conditions  were 
avowedly  bad.  Yet  Dr.  Levy  finds  that  our 
agriculture  has  not  only  survived,  but  has  lately 
been  showing  signs  of  improvement.  It  is  the 
causes  of  this  improvement — not  sufficiently 
accounted  for  by  any  advance  in  prices — which 
the  author  of  the  paper  seeks  to  investigate. 

316 


DISSOLUTION   OR  EVOLUTION?  317 

In  England  as  well  as  in  other  countries,  he 
proceeds,  the  conditions  to  which  the  crisis  of 
1879  gave  rise  led  to  two  different  opinions 
being  formed.  The  one  was  that  for  English 
agriculture  there  had  set  in  the  beginning  of 
the  end.  The  other  held  that  the  new  con- 
ditions were  simply  a  process  of  evolution, 
showing  the  need  for  a  radical  change  in  pro- 
duction. British  farmers,  it  was  argued,  must 
apply  their  energies  in  directions  where  they 
would  either  escape  the  competition  of  foreigners, 
or  encounter  it  in  a  less  degree  than  in  the 
growing  of  corn.  Especially,  it  was  argued, 
must  they  devote  themselves  to  raising  the 
finest  varieties  of  cattle — either  for  the  meat 
market  or  for  stock-breeding  purposes — and  to 
the  production  of  butter,  cheese,  fresh  milk, 
fruit,  and  vegetables. 

Taking  up  these  various  points  seriatim,  Dr. 
Levy  adduces,  in  the  first  place,  a  number  of 
facts  and  figures  to  show  the  important  position 
to  which  Great  Britain  has  attained  of  late 
years  as  a  producer  of  live-stock  for  foreign 
countries.  Not  only,  he  points  out,  has  the 
export  thereof  already  attained  to  considerable 
proportions,  but  more  and  still  more  British 
agriculturists  are  turning  their  attention  to 
what  is  found  to  be  a  profitable  industry. 


3i8    GERMAN  VIEW  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE 

In  regard  to  dairy  products,  Dr.  Levy  con- 
tinues, the  impression  prevails  in  Germany  that 
the  large  supplies  of  butter  received  from 
Denmark  and  Ireland  have  done  serious  harm 
to  the  English  farmer,  and  such  supplies  cer- 
tainly represent  a  serious  competition.  But 
neither  in  Denmark  nor  in  Ireland  does  he  find 
conditions  which  the  English  farmer  might  not 
have  secured  for  the  purpose  of  at  least  check- 
ing this  competition,  had  he  thought  fit.  Instead, 
however,  of  doing  so,  the  English  farmer  found 
it  more  profitable  to  devote  himself  to  the 
supply  of  fresh  milk.  Here  the  two  leading 
factors  were  (1)  the  steadily  increasing  con- 
sumption of  milk  in  the  towns  ;  and  (2)  the 
constant  improvement  in  the  conditions  of  trans- 
port. Farmers  who  could  send  their  milk  to  a 
town  got  better  prices  and  incurred  less  trouble 
than  if  they  turned  it  into  butter ;  so  that  (in 
effect)  it  paid  them  to  let  the  foreigner  supply 
the  towns  with  butter  if  they  could  control  the 
market  there  for  fresh  milk.  All  this  is  perfectly 
true,  no  doubt ;  but  the  German  critic  omits  to 
point  out  that  there  are  parts  of  England  so 
situated  that  the  farmers  cannot  send  their  milk 
to  the  large  centres  of  population.  In  these  cases, 
at  least,  the  establishing  of  co-operative  dairies  for 
butter  production  should  be  a  decided  advantage. 


PRODUCTION   AND   PRODUCERS  319 

In  the  matter  of  poultry  and  eggs,  Dr.  Levy 
finds  that  the  English  farmers  have  made  a  sub- 
stantial advance  of  late  years  ;  and  he  deals, 
also,  with  the  opportunity  offered  to  them  for 
supplying  the  wants  of  the  English  people  in 
regard  to  fruit  and  vegetables,  the  consumption 
of  which,  as  he  demonstrates,  has  enormously 
increased  throughout  Great  Britain.  He  shows 
that  not  only  has  far  more  land  in  England  been 
devoted  to  fruit  and  vegetables,  and  especially 
to  potatoes,  but  the  yield  per  acre  has  improved 
owing  to  the  introduction  of  better  varieties 
and  the  resort  to  improved  methods. 

So  the  crisis  brought  about  in  1879  led  to  im- 
portant changes  in  production.  But  it  led,  also, 
as  Dr.  Levy  next  shows,  to  no  less  significant 
changes  in  regard  to  the  producers.  Dividing 
the  agriculturists  of  England  into  two  classes, 
"  gentleman  farmers  "  and  "  working  farmers," 
he  defines  the  gentleman  farmer  as  the  product 
of  those  days  of  agricultural  prosperity  when 
native-grown  corn  fetched  a  high  price,  and  the 
demands  on  the  grower's  own  energies  were 
but  few. 

With  the  advent  of  the  crisis  came  the  decline 
of  the  gentleman  farmer.  He  had  no  longer 
the  same  role  to  fill,  in  the  economy  of  the  new 
agriculture,  which,  with  its  breeding  and  feeding 


320    GERMAN  VIEW  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE 

of  cattle,  and  its  production  of  fruit  and  vege- 
tables, required  the  close  personal  supervision  of 
a  "  working  "  farmer.  Even  more  than  this  was 
necessary.  There  were  needed  for  these  alterna- 
tive branches  of  agriculture  helpers  of  a  higher 
type  than  the  labourer  who  had  gone  through 
his  almost  mechanical  round  of  duties  in  the 
production  of  corn.  But  persons  of  this  type 
were  more  difficult  to  get,  and  even  when  they 
were  secured,  the  milking  of  cows,  especially, 
was  regarded  with  dislike  by  both  women  and 
men.  So  the  lack  of  competent  hands,  followed 
by  the  steady  migration  of  the  rural  population 
to  the  towns,  too  often  led  to  a  shortage  of 
labour  which  the  working  farmer  and  his  house- 
hold had  to  meet  by  themselves  taking  the 
leading  part  in  the  ordinary  work  of  the  fields. 
Here,  again,  therefore,  the  working  farmer  had 
the  advantage  over  the  gentleman  farmer,  so 
that  while  the  latter  lamented  over  the  deca- 
dence of  that  British  agriculture  in  which  he 
could  no  longer  play  his  part,  the  former  found 
abundant  scope  for  his  personal  energies  in 
newer  directions. 

To  the  original  contention  that  the  agricul- 
tural crisis  could  be  surmounted  only  by  turning 
to  these  other  sources  of  production,  instead  of 
corn-growing,  two  objections  were  advanced : 


SCOTCH   SETTLERS    IN   ESSEX  321 

(1)  That  the  consumption  of  meat,  vegetables, 
and  fruit  in  England  was  not  likely  to  undergo 
any  great  expansion  ;  and  (2)  that,  if  it  did,  the 
conditions  of  the  English  soil  would  not  allow 
of  these  articles  being  produced  in  adequate 
quantities.  Dr.  Levy  disposes  of  each  of  these 
fears.  On  the  one  point  he  adduces  figures 
indicating  the  really  enormous  growth  in  the 
consumption  of  butter,  cheese,  eggs,  poultry, 
apples,  pears,  plums,  etc.,  in  Great  Britain  of  late 
years  ;  on  the  other  he  tells  how  lands  in  various 
parts  of  the  country  which  had  previously  been 
regarded  as  fit  for  corn-growing  only  have,  by 
dint  of  individual  energy  and  application,  been 
adapted  to  the  new  conditions,  and  are  pro- 
ducing excellent  results.  He  is  especially  warm 
in  his  praise  of  the  success  achieved  by  Scotch 
settlers  in  some  of  the  most  unpromising  districts 
of  Essex  and  other  Eastern  counties.  Such 
success,  he  remarks,  shows  "  how  personal 
capacity,  combined  with  hard  work,  can  sur- 
mount natural  difficulties,"  and  he  adds  that 
"  the  Scotch  farmer  possesses  a  power  of  adapt- 
ability which  the  English  farmer  either  has  not 
got  or  has  had  to  acquire."  Whatever  the 
nationality  of  the  farmer,  however,  provided  he 
has  fought  bravely  the  difficulties  presented  by 
Nature,  either  by  adopting  new  methods  or 


322    GERMAN  VIEW  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE 

improving  on  the  old  ones,  success  has  "not 
been  far  off." 

But,  granting  that  the  British  farmers  are 
willing  to  turn  their  attention  to  particular 
forms  of  agricultural  produce,  other  than  corn, 
for  which  there  is  a  large  demand  ;  and  granting, 
also,  that  the  soil  can  be  adapted  to  the  achieve- 
ment of  this  purpose,  how  is  it  that  the  British 
cultivator  has  to  encounter  an  increasing  competi- 
tion from  the  foreigner  in  regard  to  the  produce  in 
question  ?  Why  has  not  the  British  farmer  been 
able  to  keep  in  his  own  hands  the  entire  supply  of 
those  enhanced  quantities  of  butter,  eggs,  poultry, 
fruit,  and  vegetables  which  his  markets  require? 

This  is  the  next  point  to  which  Dr.  Levy 
addresses  himself,  and  he  declares  with  emphasis 
that  the  reply  to  the  question  is  not  to  be  found 
in  any  special  advantages  conferred  by  Nature 
on  foreign  countries  as  compared  with  Great 
Britain.  He  attributes  the  conditions  in  ques- 
tion mainly  to  two  causes.  The  first  of  these  is 
that  "  alike  in  the  production  of  his  supplies  and 
in  his  method  of  disposing  of  them,  the  British 
farmer  has  a  less  perfect  system  than  that  of  the 
countries  which  compete  with  him " ;  and  this 
double  superiority  on  the  part  of  the  foreigner 
is  mainly  due,  Dr.  Levy  adds,  to  his  application 
of  the  principle  of  co-operation. 


THE   NEW   ERA  323 

But  Dr.  Levy  is  able  to  tell  his  German 
readers  that  "even  in  agricultural  circles  in 
England  the  fact  is  now  becoming  more  and 
more  recognized  that  the  lack  of  co-operative 
organization  has  been  the  reason  why  the  Eng- 
lish cultivator  has  not  been  able  to  meet  foreign 
competition  in  regard  to  articles  of  produce  for 
which  the  soil  of  the  island -kingdom  is  no  more 
unfavourable  than  that  of  other  countries."  He 
goes  on  to  explain  the  aims  of  the  Agricultural 
Organization  Society,  and  the  successes  it  had 
achieved  up  to  September,  1903 ;  and  in  this 
connection  he  suggests  that  one  of  the  main 
difficulties  to  be  encountered  in  England  in 
carrying  out  an  effective  organization  scheme 
will  be  found  in  the  varying  sizes  of  the  farms 
in  particular  districts,  large,  medium,  and  others 
comparatively  minute  being  found  side  by  side, 
and  representing  a  variety  of  needs  and  interests 
which  it  may  be  difficult  to  bring  together  on  a 
common  footing.  Another  drawback  to  agricul- 
tural organization  in  England,  as  compared  with 
Continental  countries,  he  finds  in  the  fact  that 
here  the  farmers  are  mainly  tenants  instead  of 
owners  of  the  soil  they  cultivate,  while  they 
move  about  more  freely  from  one  district  to 
another,  thus  often  not  acquiring  the  local  ties 
and  sympathies  that  are  found  in  rural  districts 


324    GERMAN  VIEW  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE 

in  foreign  countries,  where  the  families  may  have 
known  one  another  for  generations.  Even  with 
these  drawbacks,  however,  Dr.  Levy  finds  in 
present  conditions  in  England  a  distinct  advance 
in  the  development  of  combination  —  "an 
advance,"  he  declares,  "which  has  certainly 
contributed  to  the  fact  that  English  agriculture 
is  in  a  better  condition  to-day  than  it  was  in  the 
middle  of  the  nineties." 

The  second  of  Dr.  Levy's  reasons  why  the 
British  cultivator  has  not  been  able  to  fully  meet 
foreign  competition  in  market-garden  and  other 
produce  is  defined  by  him  as  a  non-agricultural 
one.  "In  England,"  he  writes  on  this  point, 
"  the  possession  of  landed  property  offers  to  the 
wealthy  great  social  and  political  advantages. 
The  political  influence  of  the  landowner,  and 
the  attractions  and  advantages  of  a  country- 
seat,  alike  as  a  summer  residence  and  as  a  centre 
for  sport  and  society,  awaken  in  almost  every 
well-to-do  Englishman  the  desire  to  own  an 
estate."  For  these  reasons,  Dr.  Levy  argues, 
a  great  amount  of  land  has  been  taken  up  in 
England  for  non-agricultural  purposes,  and  is 
kept  unproductive,  not  because  tenants  could 
not  be  found,  and  not  because  of  any  unsuit- 
ability  of  the  soil,  but  either  in  the  interests  of 
sport,  or  because  the  conversion  of  the  land  into 


NON-AGRICULTURAL   INTERESTS  325 

small  holdings  might  detract  (in  the  opinion  of 
the  owner)  from  the  beauty  of  the  landscape. 
In  this  way  non-agricultural  interests  often  come 
in  conflict  with  agricultural,  while  in  other  cases 
the  paramount  reason  may  be  simply  a  lack  of 
knowledge  on  the  part  of  a  landlord  who  leaves 
the  entire  management  of  his  estate  to  an  agent 
—a  person  generally  disposed  to  favour  large 
holdings  in  preference  to  small  ones.  Whatever 
the  immediate  cause,  the  effect  is  that  much  of 
the  land  which  in  Continental  countries  would 
be  utilized  for  market -garden  or  kindred  pur- 
poses fails  to  yield  those  substantial  quantities 
of  produce  with  which  alone  the  British  culti- 
vator could  hope  to  offer  a  supply  equal  to  the 
demand. 

I  conclude  this  digest  of  Dr.  Levy's  paper 
with  the  following  extract,  in  which  he  sums  up 
his  general  argument : — 

We  see  now  the  causes  which  operated  to  make  foreign 
competition  felt  by  the  English  farmer  even  in  what  he 
ought  to  have  regarded  as  profitable  forms  of  production, 
so  that  he  was  not  in  a  position  to  derive  full  advantage 
from  the  increased  requirements  of  his  home  markets. 
The  reason  is  not  to  be  sought  in  the  impossibility  of 
securing  the  remunerative  development  of  these  particular- 
branches  of  agricultural  activity.  It  is  admitted  that 
such  development  was  quite  possible.  Neither  can  it  be 
said  that  the  conditions  of  cultivation  were  worse  in 


326    GERMAN  VIEW  OF  ENGLISH  AGRICULTURE 

England  than  elsewhere.  The  causes  are,  first,  that  other 
countries  have  better  methods  alike  of  production  and 
sale,  due  to  their  comprehensive  development  of  the 
principle  of  co-operation ;  and,  secondly,  non-agricultural 
interests  have  retarded  the  expansion  of  those  further 
branches  of  production  which  might  otherwise  have  been 
more  fully  exploited. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE 
FARMERS  ? 

IN  his  review  of  the  present  position  of 
British  agriculture,  the  German  authority 
whose  paper  thereon  I  dealt  with  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter,  makes  no  reference  at  all  to 
that  subject  of  railway  rates  which  is  so  often 
advanced  as  one  of  the  chief  reasons  for  the 
adverse  conditions  from  which  British  farmers 
have  suffered  of  late  years.  That  he  can  have 
been  unaware  of  the  complaints  made  on  this 
point  is  scarcely  probable,  for  when  German 
experts  undertake  an  investigation  into  any  par- 
ticular subject  they  are  essentially  "thorough"; 
and  the  only  conclusion  one  can  arrive  at  is  that 
in  the  opinion  of  this  impartial  critic  the  back- 
ward condition  of  British  agriculture  is  so  far 
due  to  other  causes  that  the  question  of  railway 
rates  does  not  constitute  a  sufficiently  important 
matter  to  be  introduced  into  his  line  of  argu- 
ment. 

327 


328     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

It  is  true  that  this  bogey  of  railway  rates  in 
reference  to  agriculture  is  brought  out  from 
time  to  time  in  Great  Britain  itself,  and  there 
are  individuals  here  who  continue  to  cherish  the 
delusion  that  the  British  farmer's  natural  enemies 
are  the  railways.  But  the  statement  of  facts  I 
have  already  presented  as  to  what  other  countries 
are  doing  for  the  development  of  their  agricul- 
tural interests  shows  that  the  greatest  advantages 
they  have  gained  have  been  secured  from  changes 
of  method  which  are  sufficient  in  themselves  to 
account  for  their  successful  competition  with 
the  home  producer,  so  that  no  practicable  re- 
duction merely  in  the  cost  of  transport  would 
suffice  to  enable  the  British  farmer  to  meet 
Continental  competition,  without  any  resort  to 
the  Continental  systems  of  production  and  com- 
bination. 

All  the  same,  it  should  serve  a  useful  purpose 
to  inquire  whether  or  not  the  railways  are  sin- 
cere in  their  contention  that  the  interests  of 
British  agriculture  are  also  their  own  interests, 
and  whether  or  not  they  have  really  made  an 
earnest  effort  to  help  the  British  farmer  by  such 
practical  means  as  lay  in  their  power.  Some 
definite  facts  on  these  points  ought  to  go  far 
towards  dispelling  the  lingering  delusions  there- 
on, and  help  to  clear  the  way  for  a  wider  re- 


A   FRIENDLY   CONFERENCE  329 

cognition    of  the    actual    requirements    of  the 
position. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1895  (a  year  when 
much  was  being  said  as  to  the  depressed  con- 
dition of  British  agriculture),  the  Great  Eastern 
Railway  Company  summoned  a  conference  of 
farmers  from  the  Eastern  Counties  to  consider 
what  could  be  done  by  the  railway  to  further 
their  interests,  and  Lord  Claud  Hamilton,  the 
chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  accompanied 
by  Colonel  Makins,  the  deputy  chairman,  and 
the  leading  officials,  met  a  number  of  representa- 
tives of  agriculture,  headed  by  the  late  Lord 
Winchilsea.  In  an  article  on  the  subject  which 
I  contributed  to  The  Times  of  November  2nd, 
1895,  I  wrote: — 

The  primary  object  of  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  Com- 
pany in  calling  the  conference  was  to  impress  on  the 
agriculturists  that  while  there  should,  in  the  interests 
of  all  parties  concerned,  be  a  certain  co-operation  between 
the  railways  and  the  producers,  it  is  also  essential  that 
each  side  should,  at  the  same  time,  have  its  distinct 
organization,  complete  in  itself,  and  not  intrenching  on 
the  legitimate  domain  of  the  other.  Thus  it  was 
pointed  out  that  the  duty  of  a  railway  company,  as 
carriers,  is  to  organize  a  carrying  service,  and  that  it  was 
for  the  producers  in  their  turn  to  organize  their  consign- 
ments for  delivery  to  the  railway  company,  and  the 
subsequent  sale  thereof,  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  a  maxi- 
mum of  profit  at  a  minimum  of  expense.  But  it  was 


330     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

further  pointed  out,  in  effect,  that  this  minimum  of  expense 
cannot  be  obtained  when  each  producer  acts  independently 
of  every  other  producer,  and  that  it  can,  in  fact,  only 
be  secured  when  a  considerable  body  of  producers  work 
together  in  concert.  .  .  .  The  fundamental  principle  laid 
down  was  that,  if  the  railway  companies  are  to  help 
agriculture,  then  agriculture  should,  in  its  turn,  facilitate 
the  operations  of  the  railway  companies,  and  so  make 
reductions  of  rates  much  more  practicable  than  they 
would  otherwise  be. 

Further  conferences  followed,  and  at  one  of 
these  Lord  Claud  Hamilton  announced  that,  as 
an  earnest  of  his  company's  desire  to  do  what 
they  could  to  help  the  agriculturists,  farm  pro- 
duce would,  from  December  1st,  1895,  be  con- 
veyed on  the  Great  Eastern  Railway,  by  passen- 
ger train,  from  any  one  of  98  different  stations 
on  their  system  to  London  and  stations  in  the 
Great  Eastern  suburban  district  at  a  reduced 
charge  of  4rf.  for  any  weight  up  to  20  Ibs., 
and  Id.  for  every  additional  5  Ibs.  up  to  a  maxi- 
mum of  60  Ibs.,  provided  that  such  produce  was 
packed  in  boxes  which  the  company  would  pro- 
vide at  little  more  than  cost  price.  The  idea  of 
these  boxes  was  the  twofold  one  of  (1)  facilitat- 
ing loading,  inasmuch  as  boxes  of  certain  sizes, 
with  lids  nailed  down,  could  be  more  readily 
handled  and  placed  on  top  of  one  another  than 
a  miscellaneous  assortment  of  hampers  and 


THE   "BOX"   SYSTEM  331 

packages ;  and  (2)  that  the  trouble  of  returned 
empties  would  be  got  rid  of,  since  the  boxes 
would  be  so  cheap  that  there  would  be  no  need 
to  send  them  back. 

Later  on  the  company  prepared  and  circulated 
a  "  List  of  Farmers,  Market  Gardeners,  and 
Others  prepared  to  forward  farm  and  garden 
produce  direct  to  their  consumers,"  and  much 
advantage  has  been  taken  of  the  opportunities 
thus  offered ;  though  the  system  is  one  that 
obviously  confers  a  greater  benefit  on  the  farmer 
and  the  consumer  than  on  the  railway  company, 
since,  for  the  latter,  it  means  the  increase  of  that 
"  small  parcel "  business  which  involves  a  maxi- 
mum of  trouble  for  a  very  modest  amount  of 
profit.  The  agricultural  organizers  of  to-day 
are,  indeed,  themselves  opposed  to  the  system, 
on  the  ground  that  it  tends  to  strengthen  that 
element  of  "  individualism "  which  it  is  their 
primary  object  to  get  rid  of  from  among  the 
British  farmers,  in  favour  of  joint  action  akin  to 
that  of  their  foreign  competitors.  All  this  is 
reasonable  enough,  and  it  would  be  vastly  pre- 
ferable to  a  railway  company  to  deal  with 
British  produce  in  bulk  rather  than  in  the  form 
of  an  infinitude  of  separate  small  consignments. 
But  at  the  time  in  question  there  was  no  effec- 
tive combination  on  the  part  of  the  fanners 


332     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

to  produce  the  former  result,  and  the  only 
alternative  seemed  to  the  Great  Eastern  Rail- 
way directors  to  be  to  give  such  immediate  help 
as  could  be  rendered  by  the  system  which  they 
introduced.  A  little  more  than  a  year  later 
there  were  hopes  that  the  desired  organization 
among  the  farmers  was  on  the  point  of  being 
realized  by  the  formation  of  Lord  Winchilsea's 
British  Produce  Supply  Association ;  but  how 
that  well-meant  attempt  failed  has  already  been 
related. 

Meanwhile  the  whole  subject  had  attracted 
much  interest  throughout  the  country,  and  most 
of  the  leading  railway  companies  either  called 
conferences  of  agriculturists  resident  in  the 
districts  served  by  their  lines,  or  else  took  such 
direct  action  as  seemed  to  them  most  likely  to 
secure  the  desired  results.  I  was  myself  present 
at  two  of  these  further  conferences — those  ar- 
ranged by  the  Great  Western  and  the  South 
Eastern  Railway  Companies — and  I  can  bear 
testimony  to  the  great  earnestness  with  which 
the  representatives  of  the  railways  not  only 
advanced  their  own  ideas,  but  welcomed  any 
suggestion  offered  by  the  agriculturists  which 
seemed  to  be  at  all  practicable. 

But  the  fact  that  other  railway  companies  may 
not  have  called  such  conferences  must  not  lead 


SPECIALLY   LOW   RATES 


333 


one  to  assume  that  they  remained  inactive  in  the 
matter.  On  the  London  and  North  Western 
Railway,  for  example,  no  formal  conference  was 
held,  but  at  every  station  in  the  rural  districts 
through  which  that  railway  passes  large  posters 
were  prominently  displayed,  in  April,  1896,  an- 
nouncing that  the  company  were  prepared  to 
arrange  specially  low  rates,  where  not  already  in 
existence  upon  the  company's  system,  "  for  meat, 
dead  poultry,  eggs,  butter,  cheese,  vegetables, 
and  other  farm  and  dairy  produce,  in  separate  or 
mixed  consignments."  That  these  "specially  low 
rates  "  deserved  to  be  so  described  is  shown  by 
the  following  table,  given  on  a  handbill  which 
was  likewise  issued  :— 

REDUCED  RATES  for  the  Conveyance  of  Agricultural,  Farm, 
and  Dairy  Produce  by  Passenger  Train. 

BACON,  CHEESE,  CREAM,  EGGS,  FISH,  FLOWERS,  FRUIT, 
HONEY,  GAME*  (dead),  HAMS,  ICE,  PLANTS,  POULTRY* 
(dead),  RABBITS*  (dead),  FRESH  MEAT,  VEGETABLES, 
MUSHROOMS,  BULBS.t  and  SEEDS  t  (Garden  and  Agri- 
cultural). 


DISTANCE. 

2 
Ibs. 

3 
Ibs. 

7 
Ibs. 

9 
Ibs. 

10 
Ibs. 

12 

Ibs. 

16 
Ibs. 

20 
Ibs. 

24 
Ibs. 

36 
Ibs. 

48 
Ibs. 

s! 

rf 

rf 

rf 

d 

J 

rf 

s.     d. 

s.     d. 

s.    d. 

s.     d. 

s.    d. 

d 

Up  to     30  miles 

4 

5 

6 

6 

6 

6 

0     6 

0     6 

0     6 

0     6 

0     6 

»         50     „ 

4 

5 

6 

6 

6 

6 

0     6 

0     6 

0     6 

0    9 

1     0 

i 

„       100      „ 

4 

5 

6 

6 

6 

6 

0     7 

0    8 

0     9 

1     2 

1     6 

£ 

„       200     „ 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

0  10 

0  11 

1     0 

1     6 

2    0 

i 

Above  200     „ 

4 

5 

6 

8 

9 

10 

1     0 

1     2 

1     3 

1  11 

2     6 

I 

*  Not  applicable  between  stations  in  England  and  stations  in  Scotland. 
t  Includes  collection  as  well  as  delivery  within  usual  limits. 


334     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

This  list  of  rates  is  deserving  of  study  because 
it  will  enable  unprejudiced  persons  to  judge  for 
themselves  whether  or  not  there  is  really  any 
foundation  for  the  allegation  that  British  agri- 
culture is  being  crippled  by  extortionate  charges 
on  the  part  of  the  railway  companies. 

It  was  further  announced  that  the  company 
were  "prepared  to  arrange  special  rates  for  regular 
consignments  of  agricultural,  farm,  and  dairy  pro- 
duce sent  in  large  quantities  by  goods  or  passenger 
train,"  and  information  was  given  as  to  where 
application  for  these  special  rates  should  be 
made. 

The  mere  issue  of  these  posters  and  handbills 
would  have  been  sufficient  had  the  company 
desired  simply  to  convince  the  world  in  general 
that  they  were  desirous  of"  helping  the  farmers." 
But  the  absolute  sincerity  of  such  desire  was 
shown  by  their  taking  action  along  lines  of  which 
the  world  in  general  was  not  likely  to  hear  at  all 
without  some  such  occasion  as  that  which  now 
presents  itself  for  making  the  fact  known. 

The  following  memorandum,  dated  April  29th, 
1896,  and  addressed  "  To  Goods  Agents  and 
others  concerned,"  was  sent  out  by  the  Chief 
Goods  Manager : — 

Referring  to  the  instructions  you  have  already  received 
with  reference  to  the  endeavours  that  are  being  made  to 


VERY   MUCH   IN   EARNEST  335 

give  increased  facilities  for  the  transit  of  farm  produce  over 
the  railway,  and  the  posters  that  will  be  exhibited  at  the 
stations  in  connection  with  the  matter,  I  wish  to  impress 
upon  you  that  every  effort  must  be  taken  to  increase  this 
business,  both  in  the  interests  of  the  farmers  and  the 
Company.  The  Company  are  prepared  to  put  into  opera- 
tion, where  they  do  not  at  present  exist,  low  special  rates 
for  regular  consignments  sent  in  fair  quantities,  and  also 
to,  as  far  as  possible,  give  an  improved  service  to  distant 
markets. 

You  should  take  every  opportunity  of  notifying  this 
by  personal  communication  with  the  farmers  or  growers  in 
your  district,  and  all  applications  for  particulars  of  the 
rates  and  arrangements  should  be  sent  to  your  District 
Goods  Manager,  with  full  information  as  to  the  descrip- 
tion of  produce,  packing,  and  quantities  in  which  it  will 
be  consigned,  together  with  the  names  and  addresses  of  the 
applicants. 

In  accordance  with  these  instructions  repre- 
sentatives of  the  railway  company  waited 
personally  on  all  the  principal  farmers,  growers, 
or  producers  of  agricultural  commodities  in 
every  district  within  reach  of  the  London  and 
North  Western  Railway  where  there  was  any 
chance  of  business  being  got,  in  order  to  see 
whether,  by  any  hints  they  could  give,  any 
assistance  they  could  render,  or  any  offer  of  low 
rates  they  could  make,  they  might  help  the 
farmer,  and,  at  the  same  time,  bring  traffic  to 
the  railway.  The  number  of  personal  calls  thus 
made  was  close  on  1,000,  and  a  considerable  ex- 


336     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

penditure,  altogether,  was  incurred.  Yet  the 
applications  for  the  proffered  special  terms 
during  the  ensuing  twelve  months  represented 
a  total  of  only  268  for  the  whole  of  the  London 
and  North  Western  Railway  Company's  system  ; 
so  that  a  leading  official  was  constrained  to 
observe,  in  a  report  he  drew  up  on  the  subject : — 

The  comparative  paucity  of  applications,  considering 
the  publicity  given  to  our  willingness  to  assist,  confirms 
what  has  been  already  stated — that  the  agricultural 
depression  does  not  largely  exist  in  the  districts  we  serve, 
and  that  where  it  does  exist  the  remedy  is  not  one  within 
the  powers  of  this  railway  company  to  provide. 

All  the  same,  the  posters  and  the  handbills 
already  mentioned  were  issued  afresh  by  the 
company  at  the  end  of  1903. 

Then  the  Great  Western  Railway  Company, 
in  addition  to  holding  the  conference  to  which  I 
have  already  referred,  followed  it  up  by  others, 
and  sent  experienced  officers  to  the  farmers  and 
market  gardeners  in  the  principal  agricultural 
districts  of  the  Western  and  Midland  counties 
to  bring  prominently  to  their  notice  the  fact 
that  by  joining  hands  instead  of  acting  indi- 
vidually they  might  obtain  full  advantage  of 
reduced  rates  and  increased  railway  facilities. 
The  officers  were  further  instructed  to  closely 
study  the  particular  directions  in  which  the 


MEETING   REQUESTS  337 

agriculturists  thought  further  co-operation  with 
the  railway  company  would  be  of  value.  The 
results  of  this  inquiry  were  carefully  considered 
by  the  directors,  several  of  whom  are  specialists 
in  agricultural  questions,  and  it  was  decided  to 
adopt  measures  of  a  practical  character  for  the 
purpose  of  meeting  the  three  groups  of  requests 
into  which  the  suggestions  of  the  agriculturists 
fell.  The  chief  points  in  regard  to  each  of  these 
groups  may  be  mentioned,  as  showing  the 
general  attitude  of  the  company  in  question 
towards  the  farming  interests. 

In  the  matter  of  the  milk  traffic  the  pastoral 
districts  desired  low  rates  for  the  conveyance  of 
milk ;  train  arrangements  of  an  absolutely  de- 
pendable character,  so  that  places  at  a  distance 
or  on  branch  lines  could  obtain  a  share  in  the 
supply ;  improved  arrangements  for  the  return 
of  empties,  and  Sunday  trains  on  certain 
branch  lines.  To  meet  these  requests,  and  to 
anticipate  others,  the  directors  codified  a  pre- 
viously complicated  system  of  charges,  and 
brought  all  the  rates  within  a  simple  mileage 
scale  which  they  set  out  in  a  pamphlet  they 
circulated ;  they  opened  seven  branch  lines  for 
Sunday  traffic  ;  they  constructed  a  large  number 
of  special  milk  vans  upon  framework  similar  to 
that  of  the  best  rolling  stock  ;  and  they  arranged 


338    DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

to  concentrate  the  milk  from  specified  districts 
at  suitable  junction  stations,  and  to  carry  it 
thence  at  express  speed.  For  the  Wiltshire 
dairies,  for  example,  the  milk  for  London  from 
the  various  stations  in  the  district  is  focussed  at 
Swindon,  whence  it  is  taken  in  "  milk  trains  " 
to  London  at  the  rate  of  about  fifty  miles  an 
hour,  without  any  intermediate  stop.  At 
Paddington  there  is  a  line  with  platform  and 
approach  road  set  apart  exclusively  for  the  milk 
traffic,  and  the  whole  arrangement  works  so 
well  that  the  company  have  carried  27,500,000 
gallons  of  milk  in  a  single  year  substantially 
without  complaint. 

Inasmuch  as  the  allegation  is  constantly  being 
made  that  the  railway  charges  unduly  affect  the 
selling  price  of  food  products,  it  may  be  added 
with  regard  to  this  question  of  the  milk  supply 
that  the  dairy  farmer  in  the  West  of  England 
gets  about  sixpence  per  gallon  for  his  milk,  and 
the  railway  company  will  receive,  on  an  average, 
one  penny  per  gallon  for  bringing  it  to  London, 
where,  as  sold  to  the  ordinary  householder,  it 
will  probably  fetch  Is.  4>d.  per  gallon.  If,  there- 
fore, the  farmer  gets  too  little,  or  the  consumer 
pays  too  much,  for  the  milk,  the  fault  can 
hardly  be  attributed  to  the  railway.  When  on 
one  occasion  the  Great  Western  Railway 


THE   EXAMPLE   FROM   BUDAPEST  339 

Company  reduced  certain  rates  for  the  convey- 
ance of  milk,  with  the  intention  of  assisting  the 
dairy  farmers,  the  buyers  availed  themselves  of 
the  opportunity  to  reduce  the  prices  they  paid 
to  the  farmers,  who  were  thus  no  better  off 
than  before.  Better  far  would  it  be  if  the 
farmers  would  organize  some  system  among 
themselves  by  which  they  could  secure  a  greater 
control  over  the  whole  business,  instead  of 
simply  calling  upon  the  railways  to  reduce  their 
rates  to  a  level  where  they  would  cease  to  be 
remunerative.  Would  it  not  be  possible  for  the 
British  farmers  to  create  in  London  a  Central 
Co-operative  Creamery  Society  on  lines  similar 
to  the  one  which  is  being  so  successfully  oper- 
ated at  Budapest,  as  told  on  pages  154-5  ? 

The  second  group  of  requests  had  reference 
to  farmyard  produce  for  private  householders. 
The  farmers  desired  arrangements  by  which 
small  mixed  lots  of  butter,  poultry,  eggs,  etc., 
could  be  cheaply  and  rapidly  taken  by  passenger 
train,  and  delivered  direct  to  the  houses  of  con- 
sumers without  intermediate  agency  of  any 
description.  This,  of  course,  was  practically  the 
same  system  as  the  one  referred  to  above,  minus 
the  supply  of  boxes  by  the  railway  company, 
and  the  directors  willingly  agreed  that  scales  of 
conveyance  charges  should  be  issued  to  meet 


340     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

the  desired  object.  Under  this  arrangement 
a  consignment  weighing  24  Ibs.,  and  compris- 
ing (say)  two  couple  of  ducks  or  fowls,  24  eggs, 
2  Ib.  or  3  Ib.  of  butter,  a  tin  of  cream,  with  a 
certain  quantity  of  fruit  or  vegetables,  can  be 
sent  on  the  Great  Western  50  miles  by  pas- 
senger train,  and  delivered  at  the  house  of  the 
consumer  (provided  he  lives  within  the  usual 
limits)  for  an  inclusive  charge  of  sixpence.  It 
seems  scarcely  possible,  from  the  railway  stand- 
point, that  traffic  such  as  this  can  be  made  to 
pay ;  but  in  any  case  it  affords  conclusive 
evidence  of  a  desire  to  "  help  the  farmer." 

The  third  group  of  requests  related  to  agri- 
cultural produce  for  markets  and  large  traders. 
Low  rates  for  such  produce  by  fast  merchandise 
train  were  asked  for,  with  authority  to  lump 
together  or  aggregate  the  various  descriptions 
of  articles  on  conditions  that  would  enable  the 
producers  to  make  such  loads  as  to  justify  the 
despatch  of  through  trucks  direct  to  the  towns 
to  be  served.  Here,  again,  the  desired  conces- 
sion was  made,  new  tables  of  rates  being  pre- 
pared and  issued  to  meet  the  arrangement 
stated ;  though  when  it  came  to  getting  the 
farmers  themselves  to  group  their  lots,  so  that 
they  could  take  advantage  of  the  facilities  thus 
granted,  a  good  deal  of  difficulty  was  experienced. 


SCRUPLES   AND   PREJUDICES  341 

They  began  to  use  just  the  same  arguments  as 
every  other  railway  company,  more  or  less,  that 
has  moved  in  the  matter  has  heard.  "  They  had 
always  kept  their  trade  to  themselves,  and  in- 
tended to  go  on  doing  so,  as  they  did  not  wish 
that  their  neighbours  should  know  their  business." 
It  was  further  declared  that  "if  the  railway 
carried  the  goods  for  nothing  it  would  not  assist 
the  producer  to  any  extent.  There  was  generally 
a  good  market  near  home  for  all  that  could  be 
produced,  with  the  advantage  of  getting  ready 
money  without  worry  or  risk."  The  railway 
officials  pointed  out  to  them  that,  to  obtain  the 
fullest  benefit  of  low  railway  rates,  it  was  always 
desirable  and  frequently  necessary  that  the  pro- 
ducers within  a  given  area  or  district  should 
make  arrangements  for  grouping  their  lots.  If 
they  would  only  overcome  their  prejudice  against 
co-operation  there  was  no  reason  whatever  why 
they  should  not  appoint  one  of  their  number  to 
carry  out  the  details  for  them. 

Where,  however,  it  was  found  difficult  to  in- 
duce the  farmers  to  combine,  there  was  generally 
some  enterprising  middleman  who  would  buy 
direct  from  the  farmers — themselves  quite  satis- 
fied to  get  cash  down — and  do  the  grouping  of 
lots  on  his  own  account,  so  as  to  take  advantage 
of  the  railway  company's  concessions.  The 


342     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

farmers  thus  lost  some  of  the  profit  they  might 
have  made  had  they  adopted  the  full  policy 
recommended  to  them  by  the  railway,  but  by 
taking  their  produce  to  the  middleman  in  the 
local  markets,  instead  of  waiting  for  the 
"  higglers "  or  others  to  call  for  it,  they  got 
at  least  better  prices  than  before.  Altogether 
the  effect  of  the  railway  company's  concessions 
has  been  to  bring  about  quite  a  little  revolution 
in  certain  of  the  markets  in  the  West  of  England. 
On  the  South  Eastern  and  Chatham  Railway 
there  was  issued  a  circular  giving  tables  of 
exceptional  rates  for  the  conveyance  of  fruit 
and  vegetables  from  stations  in  the  country  to 
London,  these  rates  being  exclusive  of  collec- 
tion, but  inclusive  of  delivery  to  Covent  Garden, 
the  Borough,  Farringdon,  or  Spitalfields  markets. 
On  this  circular  the  following  announcement  was 
made : — 

REDUCED  CHARGES  FOR  LARGE  CONSIGNMENTS. — When  a 
sender  forwards  from  the  same  station  or  siding  to  the 
same  salesman  and  market  in  London  a  consignment  of 
fruit  or  vegetables,  or  a  consignment  consisting  partly 
of  fruit  and  partly  of  vegetables,  and  elects  to  lump  and 
tender  such  consignment  at  one  time,  the  rate  or  rates 
applicable  to  such  consignment  will  be  subject  to  a  re- 
duction of  10  per  cent,  when  the  aggregate  weight  exceeds 
2  tons,  and  to  15  per  cent,  when  the  aggregate  weight 
exceeds  4  tons. 


DISCARDED   OPPORTUNITIES  343 

The  same  allowances  will  be  made  when  a  consignment 
of  fruit  or  vegetables,  or  consisting  partly  of  fruit  and 
partly  of  vegetables,  is  the  property  of  two  or  more 
senders,  but  in  such  cases,  one  of  their  number  is,  by 
arrangement  amongst  themselves,  to  be  selected  as  the 
nominal  sender.  His  name  is  to  appear  as  such  on  the 
consignment  note  handed  to  the  Company,  and  he  is  to 
be  authorized  by  his  co-senders  to  receive,  on  their  behalf, 
the  allowances  above  referred  to. 

Here  was  an  excellent  opportunity  given  to 
the  senders  to  obtain  reduced  railway  rates  by 
grouping  their  consignments,  and  the  offer  has 
since  been  renewed  from  time  to  time ;  but  so 
far  as  the  officials  of  the  railway  can  recall,  no 
senders  on  the  company's  system  have  yet  taken 
advantage  of  it. 

On  the  London  and  South  Western  Railway 
a  practical  effort  was  made  several  years  ago  to 
effect  some  sort  of  combination  among  the 
farmers  in  one  of  the  important  agricultural 
districts  served  by  that  line,  with  the  view  of 
getting  them  to  combine  their  consignments,  so 
that  they  could  gain  the  advantage  of  lower 
transit  rates.  The  unsatisfactory  results  sug- 
gested that  the  time  was  not  then  ripe  for  such 
arrangements ;  but  in  January,  1904,  the  com- 
pany gave  fresh  evidence  of  their  desire  to  do 
what  was  possible  in  the  way  of  promoting  the 
interests  of  agriculture.  They  issued  a  well- 


344    DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

arranged  pamphlet  in  which  were  tabulated  the 
rates  for  conveyance  by  passenger  and  goods 
train  on  the  South  Western  system  of  milk, 
butter,  cream,  eggs,  game,  honey,  flowers,  fresh 
meat,  dead  poultry  and  rabbits,  fruit  and  vege- 
tables, grain,  manure,  etc.,  explaining  that  "these 
low  rates  have  been  compiled  with  the  object  of 
bringing  the  producer  and  consumer  into  closer 
touch  by  affording  facilities  for  the  quicker 
transit  of  all  kinds  of  farm  and  dairy  produce, 
fruit,  and  other  perishable  goods,  thus  enabling 
the  producer  to  secure  a  wider  market  for  his 
produce,  and  the  consumer  to  obtain  it  direct 
with  promptitude  and  at  a  reasonable  charge." 
A  circular  letter,  to  the  following  effect,  was  at 
the  same  time  issued  by  the  General  Manager, 
Sir  Charles  Owens,  to  agriculturists  resident 
within  convenient  reach  of  the  South  Western 
lines : — 

The  London  and  South  Western  Railway  Company  beg 
to  announce  to  farmers  and  others  that,  in  order  to  assist 
them  in  disposing  of  their  produce,  they  have  decided  to 
issue  a  pamphlet,  giving  the  names  of  those  residing  in 
the  district  served  by  their  line  who  would  be  willing  to 
supply  customers  direct  with  dairy,  farm,  or  market  garden 
produce. 

This  pamphlet  will  be  extensively  circulated  in  London 
and  other  large  centres  of  population,  and  the  arrange- 
ment widely  advertised  in  the  Press  and  by  every  possible 


"IN   ORDER   TO   ASSIST   THEM"  345 

means.  There  is,  therefore,  every  prospect  that  the  scheme 
will  be  of  material  assistance,  not  only  to  producers,  but 
also  to  the  consumer. 

A  form  of  application  is  appended  to  this  communica- 
tion, and  it  is  requested  that  anyone  who  has  produce 
available  for  disposal  under  the  system  indicated  will  fill 
in  the  necessary  particulars,  and  send  the  form  to  the 
Station  Master  at  the  nearest  London  and  South  Western 
Station. 

The  issue  of  these  two  pamphlets  would 
seem  to  suggest  that  the  company  had  fallen 
back  on  the  alternative  of  encouraging  the 
"  individualist "  system,  pending  the  develop- 
ment of  combination ;  but  they  are  still  hoping 
to  see  such  combination  brought  about,  for  in 
the  pamphlet  which  gives  details  as  to  rates  they 
say,  under  the  head  of  "  Goods  Trains  Arrange- 
ments : " — 

A  special  feature  of  the  rates  is  the  relatively  lower 
charge  made  for  consignments  of  1  ton  and  upwards,  and 
it  is  hoped  that  senders,  by  combining  together  to  send 
the  largest  possible  quantities,  will  secure  for  themselves 
the  advantage  of  these  exceptional  rates. 

Here,  on  the  face  of  it,  is  clear  evidence  of 
a  willingness  to  "  help  the  farmer  " ;  but  to  en- 
force conviction  one  needs  to  see  what  are  the 
rates  actually  charged.  Taking  those  for  the 
conveyance  of  agricultural  produce  by  passenger 
train,  I  find  that  a  hamper  weighing  24  Ibs.,  and 


346     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

containing,  say,  a  mixed  consignment  of  poultry, 
eggs,  meat,  fruit,  vegetables,  cream,  etc.,  will  be 
carried  a  distance  of  100  miles,  and  delivered 
free,  for  ninepence,  representing  a  little  over  one 
farthing  per  pound.  A  parcel  weighing  1  cwt. 
would  be  carried  the  same  distance  for  2s.  2d.,  or 
less  than  a  farthing  per  pound,  and  larger  con- 
signments would  be  proportionately  cheaper. 

All  this  seems  reasonable  enough,  and  it  hardly 
encourages  the  idea  that  any  distress  from  which 
British  agriculture  may  be  suffering  is  due  to 
excessive  railway  charges  ;  but  still  greater  bene- 
fits are  open  to  the  farmers  who  will  aggregate 
their  consignments,  and  take  advantage  of  the  one, 
two,  or  three-ton  rates  for  transit  by  goods  train. 
To  show  how  this  might  operate,  I  will  assume 
that  at  Petersfield,  Hampshire,  which  is  fifty-five 
miles  from  Waterloo,  there  are  farmers  who 
have  arranged  with  customers  in  London  to 
supply  them  with,  altogether,  112  weekly  ham- 
pers of  produce,  each  representing  a  weight  of 
20  Ibs.  The  railway  charge  per  hamper  for  car- 
riage from  Petersfield  and  delivery  would  be  8d. 
But  if  the  farmers  in  question  grouped  their  112 
hampers  into  one  consignment  for  delivery,  in  the 
first  instance,  to  a  joint  representative  in  London, 
they  would  be  able  to  send  it  at  the  1-ton  rate, 
which  would  represent  a  charge  of  156'. 


ADVANTAGES   OF   A    1-TON   LOT  347 

instead  of  a  total  of  £3  14?.  Sd.9  or,  in  other 
words,  If  d.  per  hamper  instead  of  8d. ;  while  the 
combined  packages  could  be  despatched  from 
Petersfield  by  the  goods  train  leaving  at  7.25  in 
the  evening,  and  reach  London  in  ample  time 
for  delivery  early  the  next  morning,  so  giving 
practically  the  same  advantage  as  would  be  gained 
from  despatch  by  passenger  train.  There  is 
still  the  cost  of  distribution  in  London  to  be 
reckoned.  But  if  a  little  combination  formed 
by  the  growers  at  Petersfield  were  to  join 
with  similar  combinations  in  other  districts  in 
fixing  upon  some  one  agent  or  representative  in 
London,  who  would  thus  be  enabled  to  control 
a  business  of  substantial  dimensions,  it  should  be 
possible  to  arrange  for  delivery  in  London  at 
a  cost  of  about  Id.  per  hamper.  This  would 
increase  the  total  cost  to  2f  d.  per  hamper,  as 
against  the  8d.  paid  under  the  existing  system. 
All  that  is  needed  to  effect  this  result  is  a  very 
moderate  amount  of  organization  alike  in  the 
country  districts  and  in  London. 

To  a  railway  company  the  grouping  into  a 
single  consignment  of  a  considerable  number  of 
small  parcels  which  would  otherwise  be  handled 
separately  means  a  great  saving  of  labour,  not 
alone  in  the  matter  of  loading,  unloading,  and 
delivery,  but  also  in  the  clerical  work  done,  and 


348     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

railway  charges  must  necessarily  bear  some  rela- 
tion to  the  services  rendered.     Take  the  case  of 
a  parcel,  however  small,  sent  by  passenger  train. 
It  is  first  entered  on  a  way-bill,  which  is  made 
out  in  duplicate.     One  copy  of  this  way-bill  is 
placed  on  a  clip  to  be  sent  at  the  end  of  the 
month  to  the  chief  office  for  the  preparation  of 
the  monthly  returns,  on  which  it  will  represent 
a  separate  item ;  and  from  thence  it  will  go  to 
the   Railway    Clearing    House,   where,   if   the 
parcel  should  have  travelled  over  the  lines  of 
different  companies,  the  proportion  due  to  each 
must  be  assessed.    The  second  copy  of  the  way- 
bill will  have  been  delivered  with  the  parcel  to 
the  guard  of  the  passenger  train.    At  the  receiv- 
ing end  all  the  way-bills  are  collected  from  the 
guard  by  a  railway  servant  sent  to  meet  the 
train  for  this  purpose.     He  takes  them  into  the 
parcels  office,   where   a  clerk   will   check   both 
parcels  and  way-bills.    Should  one  of  the  former 
be  missing  a  separate  report  must  be  made  to 
the  sending  station,  and  it  may  be  that  consider- 
able correspondence  will  ensue,  and  inquiries  be 
made   up   and  down  the  line,  before  the   lost 
package  is  found.     Should  parcels  and  way-bills 
agree,  those  of  the  former  which  are  to  be  de- 
livered by  the  company  are  given  over  to  the 
delivery  clerk,  who  will  proceed  to  make  out 


HOW   A   RAILWAY   EARNS   ITS   PENCE      349 

the  delivery  sheets.  On  these  he  must  carefully 
record  any  charges  to  be  paid  by  the  consignee, 
or,  in  the  case  of  a  prepaid  parcel,  he  must 
ascertain  the  distance  it  is  to  go,  lest  the  des- 
tination is  beyond  the  company's  free  delivery 
limits.  In  that  case  the  parcel  is  handed  over 
to  a  suburban  carrier,  an  extra  charge  for  de- 
livery being  specified  accordingly.  Then  the 
parcels  are  given  to  the  carmen,  who,  after 
delivering  them,  will  hand  over  to  the  cashier 
the  money  they  have  collected.  The  cashier 
will  make  his  records  in  the  books  he  keeps,  and 
the  papers  will  pass  on  to  the  accounting  clerks, 
who  will  have  to  make  up  the  summaries  and 
abstracts  against  each  of  the  stations  from 
which  the  parcels  in  question  have  been  con- 
signed. 

Most  people,  I  should  imagine,  would  think 
that  by  the  time  a  railway  company  had  done 
all  this — in  addition,  be  it  remembered,  to  carry- 
ing the  parcel — it  had  well  earned  the  few  pence 
it  charged.  They  will,  also,  understand  more 
readily  the  force  of  my  suggestion  that  there  is 
but  a  small  scope  for  profit  for  a  railway  com- 
pany in  this  small -parcels  business,  however 
willing  they  may  be  to  extend  it  in  the  interests 
of  agriculture.  If,  again,  the  reader  will  en- 
deavour to  realize  the  amount  of  trouble  in- 


350    DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

volved  in  going  through  the  above  processes  112 
times  in  the  case  of  the  aforesaid  Petersfield 
parcels,  he  will  see  why  it  is  much  less  costly 
to  a  railway  company  to  handle  one  big  consign- 
ment than  a  mass  of  small  ones.  The  clerical 
labour  is  practically  the  same ;  though  it  may 
be  even  greater  in  the  latter  case,  because  the 
smaller  the  parcel  the  more  likely  it  is  to  go 
astray,  and  lead  to  endless  trouble  before  it  is 
found.  Effective  agricultural  organization  means, 
therefore,  not  only  lower  railway  rates  for  the 
farmers,  but  a  decrease  in  working  expenses  for 
the  railway  companies. 

Reverting  to  the  London  and  South  Western 
pamphlet,  I  find  there  some  very  low  rates  for 
the  conveyance  of  milk.  The  rates  charged  per 
imperial  gallon  are — for  distances  not  exceeding 
25  miles,  Jrf.  ;  40  miles,  f  d. ;  60  miles,  %d. ;  100 
miles,  Id.  ;  120  miles,  l^d. ;  150  miles,  \±d. ; 
above  150  miles,  l^d.  Under  any  circumstances 
such  modest  charges  as  these  could  hardly  be 
called  excessive ;  but  they  include  more  than 
appears  on  the  surface.  In  districts  where  the 
passenger  train  service  is  not  adequate  for  the 
conveyance  of  the  milk,  special  milk  trains  are 
put  on  so  as  to  avoid  delay.  Such  trains  are 
run  to  Waterloo,  on  week  days,  from  Ports- 
mouth Junction  at  6.15  a.m.,  from  Yeovil 


MILK   SPECIALS  351 

6.20  a.m.  and  7.12  p.m. ;  Salisbury,  8.15  a.m., 
and  Templecombe  5.15  p.m ;  and  on  Sundays 
from  Yeovil  at  5.55  a.m.  and  4.33  p.m.,  and 
Templecombe  at  4.33  p.m.  But  the  farmers 
require  to  have  their  cans  back  again  as  soon 
as  possible.  So  the  railway  company  not  only 
run  one  series  of  special  trains  for  the  full  cans, 
but  they  run  a  further  series  of  specials  for 
the  prompt  return  of  the  empty  ones,  making 
no  charge  whatever  for  the  latter  service.  Con- 
sidering all  these  things,  the  scale  of  charges 
given  above  would  really  seem  to  be  reasonable- 
ness itself,  and  if  the  farmers  make  less  profit 
than  they  think  they  ought  to  get  from  the  sale 
of  their  milk,  they  can  hardly  attribute  the 
fact  to  any  greed  on  the  part  of  the  railway 
companies. 

The  very  small  effect  that  railway  rates  should 
have  on  the  selling  price  of  any  article  of  food 
in  respect  to  which  there  has  been  such  organiza- 
tion as  will  permit  of  the  despatch  of  consign- 
ments in  bulk  is  still  more  clearly  brought  out 
by  the  circular  in  regard  to  the  charges  for  meat. 
The  carriage,  for  example,  from  Crediton  to 
Waterloo,  a  distance  of  179  miles,  of  three  tons 
of  prime  English  beef  would  amount  to  little 
more  than  a  fifth  of  a  farthing  per  pound. 

The  last  example  I  draw  from  this  very  in- 


352     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

structive  circular,  as  showing  the  attitude  of  the 
railways  towards  the  farmers,  is  in  respect  to  the 
rates  for  stable  and  town  manure.  For  the  con- 
veyance of  this  commodity  from  Nine  Elms  in 
6-ton  lots,  station  to  station,  the  London  and 
South  Western  Railway  Company  charge  per 
ton  (to  give  only  a  few  instances)  to  Alton,  47 
miles,  3s.  3d. ;  Basingstoke,  48  miles,  3s.  2d. ; 
Bursledon  (a  great  strawberry  growing  district), 
80  miles,  4s. ;  Fleet,  37  miles,  2s.  Sd. ;  Guildford, 
30  miles,  2s.  2d. ;  Mottisfont,  78  miles,  4s. ; 
Petersfield,  55  miles,  3s.  6d. ;  and  so  on.  Rates 
such  as  these  (and  on  other  systems  they  are 
about  the  same)  should  confer  a  great  advan- 
tage on  the  farmers,  and  especially  those  at  a 
distance  from  London ;  but  they  offer  no  direct 
gain  to  the  railway  company,  more  especially 
as  the  waggons  used  for  conveying  the  manure 
cannot  be  utilized  for  back  loading,  and  therefore 
run  the  double  journey  for  the  single  small 
charge.  The  railway  companies,  however,  regard 
a  plentiful  use  of  manure  as  likely  not  only  to 
benefit  agriculture  but  also  to  bring  them  larger 
freights  later  on,  and  they  accordingly  quote 
terms  which,  but  for  the  possible  subsidiary 
advantages,  would  be  altogether  unremunera- 
tive. 

The  examples  thus  far  given  have  illustrated 


FOSTERING   LOCALITIES  353 

the  general  policy  of  railway  companies  in  deal- 
ing with  the  whole  body  of  agriculturists  in  the 
districts  served  by  their  respective  lines.  As  an 
appendix  thereto,  I  should  like  to  offer  some 
instances  of  how  railway  companies  may  seek 
to  foster  the  agricultural  development  of  par- 
ticular localities. 

Some  eight  years  ago  it  was  found  that  the 
land  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Girvan  was  well 
suited  to  the  growing  of  new  potatoes,  and  the 
growers  and  dealers  asked  the  Glasgow  and 
South  Western  Railway  Company  to  encourage 
the  starting  of  such  a  business  by  allowing  them 
to  send  new  potatoes  from  Girvan  to  Glasgow 
(a  distance  of  sixty -two  miles)  at  a  lower  rate 
than  the  existing  one  of  16,9.  7d.  per  ton,  which, 
it  was  feared,  would  render  the  trade  unprofit- 
able. After  looking  into  the  matter  the  railway 
company  agreed  to  reduce  their  rate  to  10s. 
The  enterprise  was  developed  with  remarkable 
rapidity,  and  subsequently  a  deputation  from 
the  farmers  and  potato  merchants  represented 
to  the  railway  company  that  a  still  larger 
business  could  be  done  if  the  rate  were  further 
reduced.  Thereupon  it  was  brought  down  to 
9s.  6d. ,  and,  later  on,  to  8s.  9d.  Then,  again, 
the  railway  company,  finding  that  the  farmers 
wanted  large  supplies  of  stable  manure,  took  it 


2  A 


354    DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

out  to  them  from  Glasgow  at  the  rate  of  3s.  a 
ton,  thus  aiding  the  industry  still  further. 

In  point  of  fact  the  railway  company  sought  to 
meet  the  wishes  of  the  growers  by  every  means 
in  their  power.  But  they  had  their  reward  in 
due  course,  for  when  the  new  potato  season 
opens  at  Girvan  the  consignments  will  start  at 
about  40  waggon-loads  a  day,  and  will  rise  to 
200  waggon-loads  a  day  for  a  period  of  three 
weeks,  falling  off  again,  then,  until  the  season 
is  over.  Between  June  16th  and  August  26th, 
1903,  there  were  despatched  from  Girvan 
station  5,250  waggons  of  new  potatoes,  re- 
presenting a  total  of  13,500  tons.  One  may 
be  absolutely  certain  that  the  industry  would 
never  have  attained  to  such  dimensions  as 
these  but  for  the  ready  assistance  given  by 
the  railway. 

Quite  recently  a  farmer  who  proposed  to  start 
the  growing  of  late  varieties  of  potatoes  in  the 
Girvan  district  asked  that  a  lower  rate  should 
be  given  for  potato  seed,  of  which  he  was  pre- 
pared to  send  a  consignment  of  200  tons.  To 
encourage  this  further  enterprise  the  company 
reduced  the  rates  for  seed  potatoes  between  the 
districts  concerned  for  a  period  of  three  weeks, 
by  which  time  the  consignment  in  question 
would  have  been  delivered.  Now,  too,  that  the 


"THE   BUCKS   ARRANGEMENT"  355 

experiment  of  growing  cabbages  is  also  being 
tried  at  Girvan,  lower  rates  have  been  granted 
in  respect  to  these  as  well. 

In  Wigtonshire  and  other  parts  of  Scotland 
it  was  found  some  years  ago  that  the  farmers 
were  clearing  out  of  their  farms,  and  that  the 
landlords  were  becoming  poorer  and  poorer 
owing  to  the  agricultural  depression.  There- 
upon the  railways  lowered  their  rates  for  agricul- 
tural necessaries  taken  into  these  districts,  and 
from  every  agricultural  district  in  Scotland 
where  such  rates  were  not  already  in  force  they 
made  special  rates  for  grain,  potatoes,  and  other 
agricultural  products  to  the  large  centres  of 
consumption  either  in  Scotland  or  in  England, 
thus  helping  considerably  to  bring  about  the 
improvement  that  has  since  been  experienced  in 
the  localities  in  question. 

Then  there  is  the  case  of  "The  Bucks  Arrange- 
ment," to  which  reference  should  be  made  as 
one  that  is,  in  various  respects,  especially  in- 
structive. 

This  "arrangement"  was  instituted  on  the 
London  and  North  Western  Railway  to  facili- 
tate the  despatch  of  ducks,  fowls,  butter,  etc., 
direct  from  the  senders'  doors  to  London 
salesmen,  and  to  ensure,  also,  the  prompt 
receipt  by  the  senders  of  the  amounts  due  to 


356     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

them  in  respect  to  such  produce.  The  railway 
company  supplied  cloths  and  hampers  ;  they  sent 
a  man  to  collect  the  produce  ;  they  carried  it  by 
rail  and  delivered  it  to  the  salesman  in  the 
London  markets  to  whom  it  was  consigned  ;  and 
they  afterwards  obtained  from  such  salesman 
the  amount  due  to  the  sender,  to  whom  they 
then  paid  it  over.  In  1880,  when  the  business 
was  in  a  prosperous  condition,  the  sum  total 
thus  collected  for  the  local  producers  of  poultry, 
without  any  charge  for  the  services  so  rendered 
being  made  by  the  railway  company,  was  over 
£3,000,  and  the  benefit  conferred  on  the 
consigners — who  were  mostly  producers  of  a 
"  small "  type,  to  whom  a  prompt  settlement 
was  a  very  great  convenience — must  have  been 
considerable.  What  more  the  company  could 
have  done  for  them  it  is  difficult  to  imagine. 
Later  on,  as  the  facilities  offered  by  the 
Post  Office  for  the  remittance  of  money  were 
developed  and  better  understood,  there  was  no 
longer  any  need  for  the  railway  company  to 
continue  their  role  as  financial  intermediaries  in 
respect  to  these  branches  of  the  business.  As 
regards  the  butter  forwarded  from  Bucks  to 
London,  the  senders  were  chiefly  farmers  whose 
accounts  were  already  settled  monthly  by  the 
salesmen  direct. 


A   QUESTION   OF   COMPETITION  357 

Meanwhile  changes  had  been  proceeding  in 
other  directions.  The  prosperity  spoken  of  had 
been  due  mainly  to  the  high  prices  obtained  for 
Aylesbury  ducks,  which  then  had  a  monoply  of 
the  market  at  a  certain  time  of  the  year.  But 
the  time  came  when  the  local  producers  en- 
countered a  competition  which  they  were  not 
energetic  enough  to  overcome.  Seeing  what 
good  prices  Aylesbury  ducks  were  realizing  on 
the  market,  the  farmers  of  Norfolk,  Suffolk, 
Devon,  and  other  counties  improved  their  own 
breeds  by  judicious  crossings,  and  finally  they 
produced  birds  which  are  almost  —  though, 
perhaps,  not  absolutely — equal  to  the  Aylesbury 
variety.  From  these  other  English  counties, 
therefore,  large  supplies  are  now  coming  on 
the  market,  and  still  further  consignments  are 
received  from  Russia,  Hungary,  Canada,  the 
United  States,  and  even  from  Montevideo. 
Instead  of  there  being  any  longer  a  "season" 
for  ducks,  those  birds  can  now  be  obtained  by 
the  dealers  from  all  quarters  throughout  the 
year,  and  a  pair  of  Aylesbury  ducks  which  in 
days  gone  by  would  have  fetched  25s.  could  not 
now  be  sold  for  more  than  from  6s.  to  Ss. 

In  the  opinion  of  one  experienced  wholesale 
dealer,  the  fault  of  the  Bucks  producers  has  been 
in  continuing  to  devote  their  energies  exclusively 


358     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

to  one  particular  breed,  instead  of  bestirring 
themselves  and  showing  more  enterprise  in 
facing  competition;  but  when  the  dealer  in 
question  ventured  to  suggest  to  an  individual 
sender  a  certain  change  of  method  which  he 
thought  an  improvement,  the  only  result  was 
that  the  sender  took  offence,  and  withdrew  his 
supplies.  At  the  present  time  the  rearing  of 
Aylesbury  ducks  is  mostly  in  the  hands  of 
cottagers,  who  breed  them  indoors,  and  force 
them  so  as  to  be  ready  for  the  market  within 
seven  or  eight  weeks  in  the  early  spring,  when 
they  command  the  best  price. 

As  for  butter-making  in  Bucks,  that  has 
practically  ceased,  the  farmers  finding  it  more 
profitable  —  or,  at  least,  less  trouble — to  send 
their  milk  to  the  condensed  milk  factories  at 
Aylesbury,  Buckingham,  and  Winslow,  instead 
of  changing  their  methods  to  meet  the  cheaper 
production  of  Irish  and  foreign  butters.  Not 
only  is  no  butter  now  being  sent  from  Ayles- 
bury, but  supplies  thereof  are  reaching  that 
district  from  Dorsetshire,  Somersetshire,  and 
Ireland. 

Reduced  to  statistics,  the  actual  decline  of  the 
poultry  and  butter  business  in  Bucks,  under  the 
circumstances  here  narrated,  may  be  shown  by 
the  following  comparative  statement  taken  from 


A   DECLINE   AND   ITS   COMPENSATION      359 

the  London  and  North  Western  Railway  Com- 
pany's traffic  receipts  for  that  county: — 


1880. 

1903. 

Number  of  flats  carried   .  1 
(poultry  and  butter)     .  / 

Receipts   

36,063 
£2,495  8*.  Orf. 

6,600 
£359  10*.  2d. 

So  far  as  the  railway  company  are  concerned, 
the  milk  carried  to  Aylesbury,  Buckingham, 
Winslow,  etc.,  is  an  ample  equivalent  for  the  loss 
in  regard  to  poultry  and  butter.  Whether  or 
not  the  final  results  are  as  satisfactory  to  the 
local  producers  is  more  than  I  can  say  ;  but  in 
any  case  this  story  of  "  The  Bucks  Arrange- 
ment "  throws  an  interesting  sidelight  on  the 
changing  conditions  of  British  agriculture,  and 
the  relations  thereto  of  our  railways. 

The  evidence  I  have  already  adduced  should 
be  sufficient,  I  think,  to  convince  the  most 
sceptical  of  the  genuine  and  practical  nature  of 
the  interest  felt  by  British  railway  companies  in 
the  increased  prosperity  of  that  native  agricul- 
ture from  which  they  have  so  much  to  hope  in 
many  different  ways,  apart  from  the  actual 
amount  of  produce  they  convey  on  their  lines. 
There  is  only  one  further  aspect  of  this  particular 
branch  of  the  subject  on  which  I  should  like  to 
bring  conviction  to  the  minds  of  the  British 


360     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

public  ;  that  is  to  say,  I  would  fain  impress  upon 
them  the  fact  that  when  complaints  are  made 
to  railway  companies  by  representatives  of  the 
agricultural  interest  they  are  investigated  with  a 
thoroughness  of  which  few  persons  outside  the 
general  offices  of  a  railway  company  can  have 
any  conception.  But  this  chapter  has  already 
gone  to  such  length  that  I  must  now  content 
myself  with  a  single  "  case  in  point." 

A  few  years  ago  loud  and  persistent  com- 
plaints were  made  by  private  firms  and  com- 
panies in  Ireland  of  the  unsatisfactory  condition 
in  which  consignments  of  butter  sent  to  England 
were  reaching  their  destination,  as  compared 
with  the  Danish  supplies,  although  the  latter 
travelled  a  much  greater  distance  ;  and  the  blame 
was  alleged  to  be  attributable  to  defective 
railway  arrangements.  With  a  view  not  only 
to  investigating  these  complaints,  but  also 
to  ascertaining  if  any  improvement  could  be 
brought  about  by  an  adoption  of  Danish 
methods,  the  London  and  North  Western 
Railway  Company  (which  was  then  bringing 
some  5,000  tons  of  Irish  butter  per  annum  to 
England  via  Dublin  Wall)  appointed  a  deputa- 
tion of  its  officials  to  visit  Denmark  for  the 
purpose  of  making  an  inquiry  as  to  the  con- 
ditions under  which  the  Danish  product  was 


INVESTIGATING   A   GRIEVANCE  361 

despatched.  The  same  officials  were  subse- 
quently to  visit  North  Eastern  ports  to  see  how 
the  butter  was  handled  there  on  arrival;  and, 
finally,  they  were  to  ascertain  the  corresponding 
conditions  in  respect  to  the  Irish  product.  All 
this  the  deputation  did,  early  in  1899,  and  the 
report  they  drew  up  occupies  fifteen  pages  of 
printed  foolscap,  much  practical  information 
being  given  in  respect  to  even  the  smallest  of 
details. 

The  report  itself  is  interesting  because  it 
brings  out  very  clearly  the  difference  between 
home  and  foreign  methods  in  the  consignment 
of  dairy  produce,  and  shows  how  faults  which 
traders  are  only  too  ready  to  attribute  to  the 
railways  may,  in  point  of  fact,  be  in  no  way  due 
to  them  at  all.  From  Denmark,  the  deputation 
found,  butter  is  sent  in  weekly  consignments,  in 
order  that  exporters  can  get  the  advantage  of 
handling,  and  also  of  shipping,  in  large  quantities. 
Three  boats,  for  example,  which  the  officials  saw 
despatched  from  Copenhagen  one  Thursday  night 
for  Hull,  Leith,  and  Newcastle  respectively, 
conveyed  12,326  casks  of  butter,  the  value  of 
which  was  about  £70,000.  Pending  the  de- 
spatch of  these  large  weekly  cargoes,  the  butter 
—in  the  making  of  which  a  good  deal  of  ice  has 
already  been  used — is  put  into  cooling  stores 


362     DO  THE  RAILWAYS  HELP  THE  FARMERS? 

provided  with  refrigerating  apparatus,  the 
temperature  of  the  butter  being  thus  reduced 
to  48  deg.  Fahrenheit.  This  ensures  the  main- 
tenance of  the  "texture,"  as  well  as  of  the 
flavour  and  the  aroma,  so  that  the  butter  carries 
well,  and  arrives,  as  stated,  in  good  condition. 

But  in  Ireland  the  circumstances  were  found 
to  be  altogether  different.  When  foreign  com- 
petition was  less  keen,  Irish  butter  was  de- 
spatched in  large  quantities  to  a  comparatively 
few  consignees,  and,  inasmuch  as  it  was  then 
highly  salted,  it  could  be  kept  for  long  periods 
without  deterioration.  With  the  advent  of 
foreign  competition,  however,  and  with,  also, 
the  improvement  in  the  facilities  for  rapid  trans- 
port, the  Irish  producer  opened  up  a  direct 
trade  with  retailers  in  various  parts  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  This  meant  a  daily  consign- 
ment of  small  lots  —  instead  of  the  previous 
periodical  despatch  of  wholesale  quantities — and 
a  corresponding  increase  in  the  difficulties  of 
conveyance.  At  the  same  time  the  demand 
of  the  market  changed  to  one  for  fresh  butter, 
in  place  of  the  salted  variety,  and  this  fresh 
butter,  generally  made  without  ice,  and  rarely 
put  into  a  refrigerator  before  being  despatched, 
would  be  sent  off  by  train  and  boat  almost  as 
soon  as  it  had  been  made.  It  thus  had  no 


WHERE   THE   FAULT   LAY  363 

chance  of  first  getting  reduced  to  the  tem- 
perature at  which  alone  one  could  expect  it 
to  carry  well. 

The  railway  company  were  quite  ready  to 
incur  the  substantial  expense  of  providing  re- 
frigerating apparatus  on  their  Dublin  steamers 
in  the  interests  of  the  trade ;  but  the  experts 
consulted  declared  that  unless  the  butter  had 
been  cooled  down  before  being  despatched,  re- 
frigeration on  board  the  steamers  for  the  few 
hours  occupied  in  the  passage  would  serve  no 
useful  purpose. 

The  inquiry  showed,  therefore,  that  not  only 
were  the  conditions  complained  of  in  no  way  due 
to  the  railway  company,  but  it  was  the  traders 
alone  who  could  provide  an  efficient  remedy. 
This  they  are  now  doing  to  a  certain  extent,  for 
of  the  existing  dairies  in  Ireland  about  one-sixth 
either  have  been,  or  shortly  will  be,  equipped 
with  refrigerator  rooms. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

CONCLUSION 
AND    RECOMMENDATIONS 

r  I  ^HE  task  I  set  myself  to  accomplish  at  the 
JL  outset  of  the  present  work  was  to  show  (1) 
that  the  advantages  by  means  of  which  foreign 
agriculturists  were  able  to  compete  successfully 
with  English  producers  on  our  own  markets 
might  be  due  to  far  other  causes  than  any 
question  of  railway  rates  ;  (2)  that,  instead  of 
British  railways  being  the  natural  enemies  of 
British  agriculture,  they  are  profoundly  inter- 
ested in  its  prosperity  -  -  on  much  broader 
grounds  than  merely  the  amount  of  produce 
they  carry — and  have  themselves  shown  great 
energy  in  endeavouring  to  promote  the  welfare 
of  the  farmers ;  and  (3)  that  if  the  prosperity 
of  these  farmers  is  to  be  promoted  it  must  be 
done,  not  by  persistent  bickerings  against  the 
railways  because  they  do  not  carry  retail  lots  at 
wholesale  prices,  or  grant  concessions  which 
would  transform  them  from  a  commercial  under- 

364 


AN   ECONOMIC   REVOLUTION  365 

taking  into  a  philanthropic  institution,  but  by  the 
adoption  of  the  improved  methods,  and  especi- 
ally of  the  principle  of  co-operation,  rendered 
necessary  alike  by  the  progress  of  agricultural 
science,  by  the  competition  of  new  countries,  by 
the  annihilation  of  distance  through  the  im- 
provement and  the  cheapening  of  facilities  for 
ocean  transport,  and  by  that  industrialization 
of  agriculture  which  requires  that  the  farmers 
of  to-day  should  study  the  science  of  marketing 
just  as  thoroughly  as  the  science  of  production. 

It  is  for  the  reader  to  say  whether  or  not 
I  have  succeeded  in  accomplishing  this  task  ; 
but  for  my  own  part  I  must  affirm  that  such 
investigation  as  I  have  been  able  to  make  into 
the  conditions  existing  in  other  countries  has 
profoundly  impressed  me  with  the  changes 
which  are  there  being  brought  about — changes, 
indeed,  that  are  having  a  far  wider  influence 
than  simply  on  the  fortunes  of  the  individual 
farmers. 

It  is,  I  think,  no  exaggeration  to  say  that 
when  some  future  historian  deals  with  the  closing 
years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  the  opening 
years  of  the  twentieth,  he  will,  in  his  survey, 
especially,  of  the  countries  of  Continental  Europe, 
turn  much  more  readily  to  the  silent  revolution 
brought  about  in  their  rural  districts,  as  the  out- 


366      CONCLUSION   AND   RECOMMENDATIONS 

come  of  the  agricultural  revival,  than  he  will  to 
many  of  the  changes  of  Government  or  other 
political  events  that  loomed  so  large  in  the  view 
of  their  contemporaries.     He  will  trace  in  these 
countries,  during  the  period  in  question,  the  dis- 
appearance   of  such   conditions   as   those    that 
led  in  earlier  days  to  peasants'  wars  and  rural 
risings.    He  will  see  how  classes  that  for  centuries 
had  been  regarded  as  the  most  hopeless  victims 
of  dull  routine  and  narrow-minded  individualism 
were  led  to  adopt  new  ideas,  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  teachings  of  scientific  research,  and  to 
recognize    the  paramount    need — following    on 
altered  circumstances — for  taking  common  action 
to  gain  common  advantages.     He  will  find  how, 
with  the  strength  that  comes  from  unity,  groups 
of  foreign  peasants  had  invaded  British  markets, 
and  gained  a  commercial  victory  over  farmers 
mainly   superior    to  themselves   in   means  and 
social  status,  but  content  to  stand  alone,  each 
more  or  less  mistrustful  of  his  neighbour.     Then 
he  will  learn,  also,  how  the  changes  thus  brought 
about  in  Continental  conditions  tended  to  the 
breaking  down  of  class  prejudices,  by  bringing 
all  sections  of  the  rural  community  into  closer 
touch  and  more  friendly  intercourse   one  with 
another ;    how  they   checked,   if  they  did   not 
actually  nullify,  the   economic   depression  that 


BRITISH   FARMERS    V.   CONTINENTAL       367 

once  threatened  them ;  and  how,  finally,  they 
promoted  not  alone  the  material,  but  the  in- 
tellectual, the  social,  and  the  moral  advancement 
of  the  agricultural  communities. 

When,  from  a  review  of  conditions  such  as 
these,  with  their  important  influence  on  the 
evolution  of  society  and  on  the  world's  progress 
in  general,  one  turns  to  a  comparison  between  the 
typical  Continental  and  the  typical  British  farmer 
of  to-day,  and  traces  the  cause  of  the  foreigner's 
success,  there  are  some  strong  contrasts  to  be  ob- 
served. The  British  farmer  has  been,  in  the  main, 
essentially  an  individualist,  content  to  do  as  his 
father  before  him  did,  depending  more  on  tradition 
and  practice  than  on  science,  self-reliant  and  self- 
sufficient,  ever  complaining  of  fate,  and  expect- 
ing the  world  to  adapt  itself  to  his  ideas  instead 
of  looking  to  him  to  adapt  his  methods  to 
changed  conditions.  The  foreign  farmer  who  has 
thoroughly  imbibed  the  spirit  of  combination  is  a 
man  of  a  very  different  stamp.  He  gets  his  seeds, 
his  artificial  manures,  and  his  agricultural  ap- 
pliances through  a  local  society,  which  in  turn 
arranges  through  a  provincial  or  a  national  federa- 
tion to  buy  such  things,  of  trustworthy  quality 
and  at  the  most  favourable  prices,  and  transport 
them  on  the  railway  at  wholesale  rates  ;  another 
society  enables  him  to  obtain  the  use  of  costly 


368      CONCLUSION   AND   RECOMMENDATIONS 

agricultural  machinery  which  he  could  not 
purchase  for  himself ;  and  still  another  will  give 
him  skilled  advice  on  all  matters  connected 
with  the  cultivation  of  his  farm.  He  im- 
proves his  stock  with  the  help  of  societies 
organized  with  this  special  object  in  view ;  he 
joins  with  other  farmers  in  his  district  in  engag- 
ing the  services  of  an  expert  who  will  analyze 
the  milk  supplied  by  each  cow,  and  advise  as 
to  feeding,  etc.;  he  sends  the  milk  to  a  co- 
operative dairy;  he  forwards  his  pigs  to  a  co- 
operative bacon  factory,  and  he  delivers  the  eggs 
laid  by  his  fowls  to  a  co-operative  egg-export 
combination,  receiving,  in  each  case,  not  only  a 
better  price  for  the  commodity  than  if  he  made, 
or  traded,  on  his  own  account,  but  a  share  also  in 
the  profits.  Then  he  joins  with  his  neighbours 
in  insurances  of  their  stock,  their  farms,  and  their 
produce  on  such  lines  as  to  secure  the  lowest 
possible  terms ;  he  helps  to  form  agricultural 
credit  banks  which  will  make  him  and  his  fellows 
independent  of  the  professional  money-lender ; 
he  has  clubs  or  institutes  for  the  purposes  alike 
of  agricultural  instruction  and  social  intercourse  ; 
and  he  ends  by  producing  crops  in  such  abun- 
dance, and  at  so  comparatively  low  a  cost,  that 
he  has  no  difficulty  in  competing  with  the  British 
farmer,  who  keeps  mainly  to  the  practices  of  his 


THE   AWAKENING  369 

forefathers,  the  distance  of  the  foreigner  from 
our  markets  being  fully  counterbalanced  by  the 
subsidiary  advantages  he  secures  for  himself 
alike  by  his  improved  methods  and  by  his  resort 
to  combination. 

But  the  awakening  has  come.  The  conviction 
is  spreading  among  the  agricultural  community 
at  home  not  only  that  "  something  must  be 
done,"  but  that  they  should  do  what  they  can 
for  themselves  without  further  loss  of  time. 
The  bogey  of  excessive  rates  imposed  by  rail- 
ways supposed  to  be  indifferent  to  the  welfare  of 
the  rural  districts  through  which  they  run  their 
trains  may  not  have  disappeared,  but  it  is 
disappearing.  There  are  seen  to  be  other  con- 
siderations besides  railway  rates,  and  the  assur- 
ance of  the  railway  companies  that  equality  of 
conditions  in  respect  to  home  and  foreign 
produce  will  meet  with  equality  of  treatment 
is  at  last  gaining  acceptance.  Even,  again, 
those  who  look  for  the  salvation  of  British 
agriculture  to  tariff  reform  and  "  protection " 
must  see  that,  whether  they  achieve  their  desires 
in  this  direction  or  not,  the  need  for  agricultural 
organization  will  still  remain.  This  truth  has 
been  realized  alike  by  "  protected "  Germany 
and  "  free  trade  "  Denmark.  So  the  question  is 
— "  What  should  the  British  farmers  do  in  order 

2  r, 


370      CONCLUSION   AND   RECOMMENDATIONS 

to  secure  this  organization,  and  put  themselves, 
as  far  as  possible,  on  the  same  level  of  advantage 
as  their  foreign  competitors  "  ? 

The  first  essential  in  giving  an  answer  to  this 
question  has  been  to  show  the  nature  of  the 
various  developments  to  which  agricultural  co- 
operation abroad  has  led.  This  I  have  sought  to 
do  in  the  present  volume,  which  offers,  as  I  think 
I  may  fairly  claim,  an  abundance  of  suggestive 
facts  for  the  consideration  of  would-be  agricul- 
tural reformers  in  this  country.  Happily,  too, 
the  foundations  of  an  effective  system  have 
already  been  laid  here  by  the  representatives  of 
the  Agricultural  Organization  Society ;  and  my 
first  recommendation,  as  the  outcome  of  such 
investigation  as  I  have  been  able  to  make  into 
the  general  question,  is  that  a  generous  degree 
of  public  support  should  be  given  to  this  society 
in  order  that  its  excellent  work  may  be  continued 
on  a  broader  basis.  Any  unnecessary  multipli- 
cation of  independent  and  overlapping  agencies 
is  an  evil  which  should  be  avoided,  and,  from 
what  I  have  seen  or  learnt  of  foreign  systems, 
I  do  not  think  that  any  organization  could  have 
been  started  on  lines  more  practical,  and  better 
adapted  to  meet  the  particular  conditions  of 
our  own  country,  than  one  finds  represented  by 
the  general  policy  of  the  society  in  question. 


THE   NEW   POLICY  371 

In  two  respects,  at  least,  that  policy  differs 
from  the  methods  generally  adopted  by  organ- 
izers of  public  movements  in  Great  Britain. 
In  the  first  place  it  has  been  sought  to  keep  the 
working  of  the  society  in  the  hands  of  men  who 
have  a  practical  acquaintance  with  the  position 
and  the  needs  of  agriculturists,  rather  than  seek 
to  impress  the  world  by  a  long  list  of  supporters 
who  might  carry  much  weight  with  "  Society," 
but  would  not  favourably  impress  the  working 
farmer.  In  the  second  place  there  is  no  idea 
of  framing,  in  London,  cut-and-dried  schemes 
to  which  the  agricultural  districts  are  expected 
to  adapt  themselves,  the  entire  machinery  being 
operated  from  some  office  in  the  Metropolis. 

The  aim  is,  rather,  to  secure  the  creation, 
throughout  the  country,  of  the  greatest  possible 
number  of  local  co-operative,  self-governing 
associations,  each  affiliated,  it  is  true,  to  the 
central  organization,  but  each  fulfilling  its  own 
particular  purpose  according  to  the  special  needs 
of  the  locality  where  it  exists,  and  looking  to  a 
common  centre  for  advice  only,  or  for  the  attain- 
ment of  such  advantages  as  require  a  united 
effort.  In  other  words,  instead  of  a  start  being 
made  with  an  elaborately  organized  central  body 
in  London,  gradually  extending  the  ramifications 
of  its  machinery  into  the  country,  each  rural 


372      CONCLUSION   AND   RECOMMENDATIONS 

parish  is  invited  to  act  on  its  own  account,  and 
(with  the  guidance  which  London  offers  to  give) 
begin  a  little  network  of  local  activity  which, 
while  regarding  its  own  particular  village  as  its 
real  centre  of  action,  will  stretch  out  until  it 
touches  the  similar  network  set  up  by  its  neigh- 
bours, parishes  thus  associating  with  parishes, 
and  counties  with  counties,  until  a  really  national 
organization  can  be  attained  as  the  final  out- 
come of  the  movement  rather  than  the  starting- 
point. 

It  is  this  same  idea  of  not  attempting  too 
much  to  begin  with  that  has  led  most  of  the 
agricultural  co-operative  associations  yet  formed 
in  England  to  adopt,  so  far,  only  the  elementary 
form  of  combination  represented  by  collective 
purchase.  Collective  sale  is  a  higher  standard 
which  will  be  duly  attained  when  the  education 
of  farmers  in  matters  co-operative  has  been 
sufficiently  advanced  ;  but  collective  purchase 
has  been  universally  found  to  represent  the 
most  practical  and  the  most  hopeful  means  of 
making  a  start.  It  has  the  disadvantage  of 
raising  a  certain  amount  of  opposition  on  the 
part  of  manufacturers  and  traders  ;  but  Con- 
tinental experience  shows  that  agricultural  co- 
operation has  been  a  decided  benefit  to  honest 
manufacturers  and  traders.  It  has  greatly  in- 


ATTITUDE   OF   MANUFACTURERS  373 

creased  the  demand  for  agricultural  necessaries, 
and  has  allowed  of  big  orders  being  got  direct 
from  the  societies,  without  any  expense  in  regard 
to  travellers  or  agents,  and  without  any  risk  of 
bad  debts.  The  only  persons  who  need  be  afraid 
are  the  dishonest  traders  whose  seeds,  fertilizers, 
or  feeding- stuffs  will  not  bear  the  test  of  those 
strict  analyses  which  a  society  is  so  much  better 
able  to  exact  than  an  individual  purchaser.  The 
wisest  manufacturers,  therefore,  will  be  those 
who  hasten  to  make  friends  with  the  agricultural 
societies — which  represent  a  coming  force  that 
cannot  be  withstood — instead  of  opposing  them 
with  "  rings  "  or  other  difficulties,  persistence  in 
which  must  simply  mean  that  the  societies  will 
either  manufacture  for  themselves,  or  else  make 
their  purchases  abroad.  In  fact,  the  foreign 
manufacturers,  with  their  experience  of  what 
good  customers  agricultural  syndicates  may  be- 
come, are  already  coquetting  with  the  English 
societies  with  a  view  to  securing  their  patronage. 
If,  in  spite  of  all  that  I  have  said,  farmers  on 
the  one  hand,  or  manufacturers  on  the  other, 
may  still  have  their  doubts  as  to  the  value  of 
these  purchase  societies,  or  the  amount  of  trade 
they  may  represent,  I  would  commend  to  their 
notice  an  article  in  the  Empire  Review  for 
December,  1903,  by  Mr.  Theobald  Douglas,  on 


374      CONCLUSION   AND   RECOMMENDATIONS 

"  How  to  Increase  Britain's  Agricultural  Produc- 
tion." I  have  here  room  for  only  a  few  passages. 
Mr.  Douglas  says,  among  other  things : — 

The  fundamental  reason  for  the  depression  of  agri- 
Culture  in  Britain  is  not  low  prices  but  small  crops,  and 
British  farming  can  only  be  benefited  by  increasing  the 
size  of  the  crops  without  adding  much  to  the  cost  of 
production.  .  .  .  Belgium,  although  thickly  populated, 
supplies  nearly  the  whole  of  London,  as  well  as  herself, 
with  vegetables.  ...  In  England  there  are  cattle  and 
horse  breeding  societies ;  but  of  what  use  is  all  this  when 
fodder  is  wanting  ?  ...  In  1902  the  imports  into  England 
of  meat,  cattle,  oats,  butter,  margarine,  milk,  and  cheese 
were  to  the  value  of  £86,000,000.  These  imports  she 
could  produce  herself  if  the  soil  were  so  manured  as  to 
give  double  or  treble  the  yield  of  fodder.  .  .  .  The  in- 
crease of  yield  in  Continental  countries  has  been  accom- 
plished, despite  stubborn  opposition,  by  the  introduction 
and  application  of  the  principle  that  those  nutritive 
vegetable  substances  which  have  been  extracted  from  the 
soil  by  the  crops  must  be  replaced.  But  there  is  by  no 
means  sufficient  farmyard  manure  to  supply  the  soil's 
needs.  .  .  .  The  most  important  question  for  Great 
Britain  is  to  teach  the  farmer  how  best  to  use  the  different 
(artificial)  manures,  and  to  furnish  him  with  the  required 
manures  at  the  cheapest  possible  rate.  The  use  of  mineral 
manure  would  never  have  been  so  general  in  Germany  had 
it  not  been  that  both  these  questions  were  thoroughly 
and  systematically  examined  by  special  organizations 
throughout  the  country  whose  influence  penetrated  to 
every  village.  These  organizations  are  agricultural  co- 
operative corporations  which  afford  the  farmer  the  oppor- 
tunity of  buying  the  right  sort  of  manure  at  a  cheap  price. 


ORGANIZATION  AND  THE  TRADERS         375 

The  actual  extent  to  which  the  German  farmer 
has  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  thus 
offered  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  follow- 
ing figures,  which  Mr.  Douglas  gives  as  showing 
how  the  use  of  fertilizers  increased  in  Germany 
between  1880  and  1902  :- 

Basic  slag  from  200,000  to  1,100,000  tons. 
Superphosphate  from  400,000  to  900,000  tons. 
Potash  „    150,000    „  350,000     „ 

Nitre  „    100,000    „  400,000     „ 

These  facts  and  figures  should,  I  think,  relieve 
the  farmers  of  any  lingering  doubt  as  to  the 
course  they  should  adopt,  and  the  manufacturers 
of  any  reluctance  to  welcome  an  innovation  that 
evidently  means  a  big  increase  of  business  for 
somebody ! 

So  I  place  in  the  forefront  my  recommenda- 
tions that  every  encouragement  should  be  given 
to  the  efforts  already  being  made  to  promote 
combination  among  the  British  farmers.  But 
experience  has  already  shown  that  no  really 
effective  scheme  of  agricultural  organization  on 
a  widespread  basis  can  be  carried  out,  even  in 
Great  Britain,  unless  supplemented  by  some 
practical  system  of  co-operative  agricultural 
credit  banks,  arranged  on  so  comprehensive  a 
scale  as  to  meet  the  varying  wants  of  all  our 
agricultural  classes.  There  may  not  be  in 


376      CONCLUSION   AND   RECOMMENDATIONS 

England,  Wales,  and  Scotland  so  large  a  pro- 
portion as  in  Ireland  and  in  various  Continental 
countries  of  those  very  small  cultivators  to  whom 
the  loan  of  £5  or  £6  from  a  co-operative  village 
bank  would  be  a  great  personal  convenience.  A 
certain  demand  for  such  facilities  there  un- 
doubtedly is  on  the  part  of  labourers  and 
very  small  producers,  and  such  demand  the 
Co-operative  Banks  Association  should,  with 
adequate  support,  be  well  able  to  meet.  But 
a  wider  basis  of  operations  than  this  is  required 
to  answer  the  requirements  of  farmers  who 
would  want  to  borrow  more  substantial  sums, 
and  might  find  it  an  inestimable  benefit  if  they 
could  obtain  them  from  a  co-operative  credit 
bank. 

Still  more  effectually  would  such  a  bank  facili- 
tate the  operations  of  an  agricultural  association, 
which  would  secure  loans  on  the  individual  and 
collective  credit  of  its  members  for  the  purchase 
of  the  necessaries  required  by  them,  and  receive 
payment  in  such  convenient  instalments  as  might 
be  arranged.  Especially  could  costly  agricultural 
machinery  be  thus  obtained  by  an  association  of 
farmers  without  their  being  required  to  advance 
any  capital  of  their  own,  and  without,  in  fact, 
their  paying  anything  except  the  stipulated  sums 
for  hire,  by  means  of  which  the  sum  expended 


THE  QUESTION   OF   FINANCE  377 

would  be  eventually  repaid.  While,  therefore, 
agricultural  science  and  the  economic  situation 
of  to-day  have  rendered  essential  a  greater  resort 
to  agricultural  machinery,  if  only  as  a  means  of 
reducing  the  cost  of  production,  agricultural 
combination  has  brought  the  use  of  even  the 
costliest  machines  within  the  reach  of  the 
humblest  cultivator,  placing  him  in  practically 
the  same  position,  in  this  regard,  as  the  most 
prosperous  of  his  neighbours. 

Whether  the  British  farmer  acts  individually 
or  collectively,  the  financial  question  calls,  indeed, 
for  serious  consideration.  It  might  even  be 
argued  that  until  the  financial  problems  which 
arise  have  been  satisfactorily  disposed  of,  no 
great  progress  at  all  will  be  made.  In  almost 
every  agricultural  district  in  Great  Britain 
farmers  or  cultivators  of  the  smaller  class  are 
practically  in  the  hands  of  commission-men  or 
brokers  who  advance  money  to  them  before 
their  crops  are  ready,  and  afterwards  get  the 
produce  at  substantially  less  than  its  legitimate 
value,  because  of  the  financial  obligations  which 
the  growers  incurred  towards  them  at  a  time 
when  they  were  pressed  for  money.  Not  only 
does  the  individual  farmer  suffer,  but  the  market 
price  of  the  commodity  in  question  is  affected. 
Illustrations  of  these  practices  could  especially 


378      CONCLUSION   AND   RECOMMENDATIONS 

be  drawn  from  the  hop-producing  districts  of 
Surrey  and  Hampshire,  where  it  is  no  unusual 
thing  for  the  hop  growers  who  begin  with 
obtaining  advances  from  the  dealers  to  finish 
by  realizing  about  three-fourths  of  the  actual 
value  of  their  crops. 

An  agricultural  co  -  operative  association, 
backed  up  by  an  agricultural  credit  bank,  could 
meet  this  evil  by  itself  undertaking  the  sale  of 
the  produce,  advancing  to  the  farmer  the  greater 
part  of  the  amount  which  the  crop  might  be 
expected  to  realize,  and  paying  the  balance  to 
him — less  a  moderate  charge  for  expenses— 
when  the  transaction  had  been  completed.  In 
this  way  the  grower  would  no  longer  be  at  the 
mercy  of  the  dealers,  better  results  would  be 
obtained  for  the  sale  of  individual  lots,  and  there 
would,  also,  be  a  greater  prospect  of  the  market 
prices  being  maintained,  in  which  case  the  larger 
class  of  growers  would  benefit  as  well  as  the 
small  ones.  Reference  to  the  chapter  on  "  Hun- 
gary "  will  show  how  effectively  the  system  here 
described  has  been  carried  out  in  that  country  in 
regard  to  the  production  and  sale  of  wheat. 

There  is  no  need  for  me  to  enter  now  upon 
any  detailed  statement  concerning  the  precise 
lines  to  be  followed  in  the  formation  of  those 
co-operative  credit  banks  which  would  provide 


THE   UTILIZATION   OF  SAVINGS  379 

the  good  financial  resources  needed  by  the  Agri- 
cultural Co-operative  Associations  to  carry  out 
the  above-mentioned  policy  of  defence,  in  addi- 
tion to   the   other  arrangements  in   respect  to 
purchase,  etc.     But   on  the   question   of  ways 
and  means  I  would  commend  to  those  who  are 
interested  in  this  branch  of  the  subject  a  perusal 
—or  even  a  re-perusal— of  the  chapter  on  the 
position  in  Italy,  where,  as  I  have  explained, 
the    savings    effected    by    the    artisans    in    the 
towns   are  rendered   available  for  the  purpose 
of  loans  to  agriculturists  in  the  district  in  which 
they  have  been  obtained,  instead  of  being  sent 
away  to  be  invested  in  Government  securities, 
or    to   be    put   into,    perhaps,   dubious  foreign 
speculations.      The   financial   position   of   Italy 
is,    of    course,    altogether    different   from    that 
of    Great    Britain ;     but    if,    for   instance,    the 
deposits  made  in  the  Post  Office  Savings  Bank 
by  the  working   classes   in   one   of    our  great 
industrial  centres  could,  under  some  absolutely 
secure  system,  be  utilized  to  encourage  the  start- 
ing of  co-operative  credit  banks  in  the  surround- 
ing agricultural  districts,  the   result  would  be 
not  only  to  confer  a  great  advantage   on  the 
farmers,  and  not  only  to  improve  the  general 
position  of  agriculture,  but  also  to  produce  an 
increased   demand   for  agricultural    machinery, 


380      CONCLUSION   AND   RECOMMENDATIONS 

etc.,  the  supply  of  which  would  mean  that  the 
artisans  who  had  saved  the  money  would  get 
not  only  as  good  a  rate  of  interest  as  they  do  at 
present,  but  a  bonus  thereon  in  the  form  of  more 
employment. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  thought  a  matter  well 
worth  considering  whether  or  not  anything  can 
be  done  in  this  direction,  thus  rendering  the 
savings  in  question  directly  reproductive.  But 
in  any  case  the  scope  of  the  Co-operative  Banks 
Association  will  have  to  be  widened,  or  some 
fresh  arrangements  effected  so  as  to  extend  the 
advantages  of  co-operative  credit  to  other  than 
simply  the  humblest  of  agriculturists ;  and  in 
this  connection  it  may  be  found  desirable  to 
amalgamate  the  Agricultural  Organization 
Society  and  the  Co-operative  Banks  Associa- 
tion, so  as  to  give  greater  force  to  the  efforts 
that  each  is  making.  How  intimately  agricul- 
tural organization  and  co-operative  credit  are 
associated  I  have  already  shown,  and  much 
better  results  would  doubtless  be  gained  by 
bringing  these  two  phases  of  one  and  the  same 
general  movement  into  close  touch  --  each 
directly  operated  by  a  committee  of  experts, 
with  its  staff  of  officers,  but  each  forming  part 
of  one  and  the  same  body — than  if  they  worked 
in  complete  independence  the  one  of  the  other. 


WOMEN'S  INSTITUTES  AND  VILLAGE  LIFE     381 

The  same  remarks  apply  to  the  National  Poultry 
Organization  Society,  which  should  also  form 
part  of  a  federation  on  the  lines  here  suggested. 
In  fact,  when  these  various  societies  go  to  the 
agriculturists,  and  reproach  them — more  or  less 
—for  not  adopting  principles  of  co-operation,  it 
would  be  open  to  those  agriculturists  to  reply : 
"  Quite  so ;  but  why  don't  you  societies  set  us 
the  example  among  yourselves  ? " 

To  co-operative  agricultural  associations  for 
commercial  or  other  material  purposes,  and  to 
co-operative  credit  banks  for  the  financing  of 
cultivators,  small  and  large,  might  well  be  added 
some  such  organizations  as  the  Farmers'  Insti- 
tute and  the  Women's  Institutes  which  I  have 
described  under  the  heading  of  "  Canada."  In 
Great  Britain,  as  in  the  Dominion,  agricultural 
societies  of  this  type  should  fulfil  a  most  useful 
purpose  from  both  an  educational  and  a  social 
standpoint,  adding  as  they  must  do  fresh  in- 
terests to  village  life,  and  helping  to  relieve  what 
must  too  often  be  its  unspeakable  dullness. 
From  each  of  these  points  of  view  the  formation 
of  women's  agricultural  societies  seems  to  be 
especially  worth  considering.  It  was,  indeed,  a 
very  happy  inspiration  which  led  the  wives  and 
daughters  of  Canadian  farmers  to  conclude  that, 
inasmuch  as  women  generally  play  so  important 


382      CONCLUSION   AND    RECOMMENDATIONS 

a  part  in  the  work  of  a  farm,  they  should  have 
an  organization  of  their  own  which  would  enable 
them  to  do  what  they  could  to  advance  the 
welfare  both  of  home  life  and  of  agriculture  ;  and 
the  example  so  set  is  one  that  might  very  well 
be  followed  in  Great  Britain — as  supplementing, 
one  may  hope,  an  attempt  which  the  husbands 
and  fathers  will  make  to  form  for  themselves 
on  British  soil  institutes  akin  to  those  of  the 
Farmers'  Institutes  of  Canada. 

I  would  venture  to  suggest,  also,  that  there  is 
need  for  the  existing  county  and  local  agricul- 
tural societies,  Farmers'  Clubs,  etc.,  to  revise 
their  methods  with  a  view  to  meeting  the  actual 
requirements  of  the  present-day  situation.  It 
will  have  been  seen  that,  in  a  number  of  the 
countries  dealt  with,  agricultural  societies  which 
exist  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  holding  shows 
and  distributing  prizes  have  been  regarded  as 
somewhat  out  of  date,  and  fresh  organizations 
have  been  set  up  either  in  their  place  or  to 
supplement  their  action.  It  might  be  possible 
to  modify  any  resort  to  this  course  in  Great 
Britain  by  a  reconstruction,  as  it  were,  of  some 
of  these  existing  agencies,  and  many  suggestions 
as  to  the  form  such  reconstruction  could  take 
may  be  gathered  from  the  statements  already 
given  as  to  what  is  being  done  elsewhere.  The 


SELF-HELP    RATHER   THAN   STATE   AID     383 

addition  to  ordinary  shows  of  lectures  giving 
practical  explanations  to  young  agriculturists 
concerning  the  good  or  bad  points  of  the 
exhibits,  as  is  done  in  Canada,  would  in  itself, 
for  instance,  add  greatly  to  the  value  of  these 
gatherings. 

The  extent  to  which  the  State  should  take 
action  in  the  matters  under  consideration  is  a 
point  upon  which  differences  of  opinion  may 
arise ;  but  my  individual  conviction  thereon  is 
that  the  agriculturists  should  rely  to  the  fullest 
possible  extent  on  the  two  great  principles  of 
self-help  and  mutual-help,  and  depend  as  little 
as  possible  on  State  aid.  My  aim  has  been, 
therefore,  to  show  what  can  be  done  by  a  resort 
to  the  former  principles,  rather  than  to  say 
anything  that  would  lead  to  greater  dependence 
on  the  latter,  and  how  very  much  there  is  that 
the  British  farmers  can  do  for  themselves  in 
following  examples  set  elsewhere  has,  I  think, 
been  abundantly  proved. 

No  one  can  doubt  the  zeal  shown  by  the 
Board  of  Agriculture,  and  the  part  played  by 
that  body  in  (among  other  things)  spreading 
sound  practical  information  by  means  of  publica- 
tions of  various  kinds,  is  deserving  not  alone  of 
all  praise  but  of  still  wider  development.  In 
by-gone  days,  however,  there  was  too  marked 


384      CONCLUSION   AND   RECOMMENDATIONS 

a  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  Board  to  pose  as 
the  farmer's  friend,  and  to  represent  the  railways 
as,  in  effect,  the  farmer's  enemies.  In  the  latter 
respect  there  has  recently  been  a  more  generous 
recognition  of  what  the  railways  have  done,  or, 
at  least,  have  either  sought  to  do,  or  are  willing 
to  do,  provided  only  the  agriculturists  will  meet 
them  half-way.  But  there  would  still  seem  to 
be  a  disposition  to  get  the  farmers  throughout 
the  country  to  look  to  a  centralized  Government 
department  in  London  for  guidance  and  direction 
in  all  their  wants.  The  recent  appointment  of 
"  honorary  correspondents  to  the  Board  of 
Agriculture  "  is  a  .case  in  point.  We  have  been 
told  that  "it  would  be  the  duty  of  these 
correspondents  to  make  known  to  all  the 
farmers  in  their  respective  districts  what  the 
Board  of  Agriculture  could  do  for  them,  and 
to  make  known  to  the  Board  of  Agriculture 
what  were  the  wants  of  the  farmers  in  their 
particular  districts."  To  a  certain  extent  this 
arrangement  may  serve  a  distinctly  useful  pur- 
pose. But  the  said  honorary  correspondents 
are  to  be  chosen  from  among  the  "  landowners, 
land  agents,  and  farmers  "  of  each  of  nineteen  or 
twenty  districts,  and  when  the  term  "  farmers  " 
is  sub-divided  into  "  gentleman  farmers "  and 
"  working  farmers  "  (on  the  lines  stated  in  the 


AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION  385 

"  German  View  of  British  Agriculture "),  it  is 
just  possible  that  the  interests  of  the  last- 
mentioned  class — which  interests  are  not  neces- 
sarily identical  with  those  of  landowners,  land 
agents,  and  gentleman  farmers — might  not  always 
be  either  fully  represented  or  adequately  con- 
sidered. If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  arrangement 
in  question  were  to  so  far  influence  the  said 
working  farmers  as  to  lead  in  the  slightest 
degree  to  their  depending  on  the  Board  of 
Agriculture  to  do  for  them  what  they  could 
very  well  do  for  themselves,  the  result  could 
only  be  deplored.  Personally,  I  am  much  more 
favourably  inclined  towards  an  active  fostering 
of  self-help,  on  the  lines  laid  down  by  those  now 
carrying  on  the  work  of  organization  in  the  rural 
districts,  than  I  should  be  towards  any  possible 
development,  even  from  afar  off,  of  such  political 
and  bureaucratic  tendencies  as  those  which  Die 
G-ennossenschaft  grieves  over  in  the  case  of 
Austria. 

Where,  I  think,  there  is  more  especially  dis- 
tinct scope  for  Government  action  is  in  a  greater 
expansion  of  the  good  educational  work  already 
done  through  the  publications  of  the  Board  of 
Agriculture  by  placing  on  a  better  footing  the 
whole  system  of  agricultural  education  in  its 
manifold  phases,  and  more  particularly  as  re- 


2  C 


386      CONCLUSION   AND   RECOMMENDATIONS 

gards  rural  elementary  schools.  To  give  an 
adequate  account  of  all  that  our  foreign  competi- 
tors are  doing  in  these  respects  would  require  a 
volume  to  itself ;  but  the  impression  left  on  one's 
mind  by  an  inquiry  into  conditions  abroad  is  that 
whatever  may  or  may  not  be  the  actual  benefits 
we  have  derived  from  systems  of  elementary 
and  technical  education  suited  mainly  to  urban 
populations,  we  are  sadly  behind  other  countries 
in  a  really  efficient  method  of  preparing  the 
children  and  young  people  in  rural  districts  for 
those  agricultural  avocations  to  which  they  are 
expected  to  take  when  their  school  days  are  over. 

In  the  higher  branches  of  agricultural  educa- 
tion good  work  is  undoubtedly  being  done  by  the 
various  agricultural  colleges.  But  even  better 
results  would  be  obtained  if  these  colleges  were 
to  follow  the  example  of  the  agricultural  colleges 
of  Holland  in  devoting  at  least  an  hour  and  a 
half  each  week  to  instruction  on  the  subject  of 
agricultural  organization ;  while  Mr.  Augustus 
Brigstocke's  gift  of  two  scholarships  of  £10  each 
to  enable  diploma  students  to  pursue  a  course  of 
lectures  at  Aberystwyth  University  College,  as 
mentioned  in  the  chapter  on  "England  and 
Wales,"  is  well  deserving  of  emulation. 

One  may  hope,  also,  that  the  County  Councils 
will  be  disposed  to  take  full  advantage  of  the 


THE   POSITION   OF   COUNTY   COUNCILS     387 

powers  they  now  possess  for  helping  on  the  work 
of  agricultural  organization.  How  profoundly 
the  interests  they  represent  are  concerned  in  the 
welfare  of  agriculture  will  be  readily  conceded. 
It  is  equally  certain  that  the  funds  at  their 
command  for  educational  purposes  could  hardly 
be  laid  out  to  more  practical  advantage,  from  a 
"county"  standpoint,  than  in  securing  an  increase 
of  agricultural  prosperity.  Happily,  too,  there 
is  no  need  for  them  to  incur  any  very  great 
expense  in  the  exercise  of  their  new  authority. 
The  direction  in  which  they  could  render  the 
most  practical  assistance  would  be  in  guarantee- 
ing the  salaries  of  capable  agricultural  organizers, 
working  in  touch  with  all  the  various  agencies, 
constituting  a  connecting  link  between  them,  and 
forming  a  means  by  which  the  general  work 
of  agricultural  organization  could  be  advanced. 
There  would  be  no  necessity  whatever  for  any 
of  the  County  Councils  to  elaborate  schemes  of 
their  own.  They  need  only  help  to  build  on  the 
foundations  already  laid. 

There  is,  however,  one  direction  in  which 
action  already  taken  in  the  work  of  agricultural 
education  might  be  modified.  With  the  best 
of  intentions,  travelling  dairies  have  been  sent 
round  various  rural  districts  in  order  to  give 
dairy  workers  instruction  in  better  methods  of 


388      CONCLUSION   AND   RECOMMENDATIONS 

butter-making  ;  but  the  effect  is  to  prolong  the 
chances  of  life  of  that  system  of  farm-dairies 
which  ought  to  be  allowed  to  die  out  in  England, 
as  in  Denmark  and  many  other  countries,  in 
favour  of  co-operative  dairies,  where  the  butter 
would  be  made  in  bulk  from  the  milk  collected 
from  a  large  number  of  farms.  Unless  specially 
organized  from  the  point  of  view  of  production 
in  considerable  quantities — as  is  the  case  with 
many  of  those  on  the  Continent — travelling 
dairies  do  not  necessarily  qualify  for  work  in 
those  co-operative  dairies  which  are  the  great 
desiderata.  It  would,  therefore,  serve  a  more 
useful  purpose  if  the  County  Councils,  instead 
of  incurring  the  expense  of  travelling  dairies, 
were  to  make  grants  for  technical  instruction  in 
dairy  work  to  be  given  in  co-operative  dairies  of 
the  Danish  type.  It  might  even  be  practicable, 
in  case  of  need,  for  two  or  three  counties  to  join 
together  in  setting  up  such  a  dairy  for  educa- 
tional purposes,  so  as  to  promote  the  training, 
not  alone  of  ordinary  dairy  workers,  but  also  of 
dairy  managers,  for  whom  there  will  be  a  demand 
as  soon  as  the  co-operative  dairy  system  is  more 
generally  spread  throughout  the  country.  Here, 
again,  the  expense  need  not  be  great,  because 
the  dairy  set  up  ought  soon  to  become  practi- 
cally, if  not  entirely,  self-supporting. 


AGRICULTURAL   LECTURESHIPS  389 

The  further  suggestion  has  been  made  that 
County  Councils  should  grant  funds  in  favour 
of  "  agricultural  lectureships  "  ;  but  this  is  an 
idea  I  am  not  disposed  to  support.  The  British 
farmer  would  not  be  inclined  to  favour  lectures 
on  the  technicalities  of  his  business  from  others 
than  experts  of  the  very  highest  eminence  in  the 
country,  persons,  that  is  to  say,  whose  services 
a  single  County  Council  might  not  be  in  a  posi- 
tion to  enlist,  even  if  it  surmounted  the  tempta- 
tion of  appointing  as  lecturer  some  person  of 
local  reputation  only.  In  cases  where  lecturers  of 
a  second  or  third  rate  rank  have  been  engaged  by 
local  authorities  the  results  have  sometimes  been 
far  from  satisfactory.  Any  scheme  for  official 
agricultural  lectureships  might,  therefore,  be  left 
to  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  which  would  be  in 
a  much  better  position  to  engage  the  best  talent 
for  the  purpose,  and  might  be  well-advised  so 
to  do,  the  County  Councils  devoting  themselves, 
rather,  to  the  employment  of  agricultural 
organizers.  As  regards  the  work  of  these  indi- 
viduals, it  is  found  that  they  do  far  more  good 
by  having  quiet  talks  with  the  farmers  in  their 
own  homes,  on  the  market,  or  at  the  village  inn, 
than  by  holding  public  meetings  to  propagate 
their  ideas,  or  by  seeking  to  deliver  addresses 
on  technical  subjects  on  their  own  account. 


390     CONCLUSION   AND   RECOMMENDATIONS 

Finally,  the  conclusions  at  which  I  have  arrived 
may  be  summed  up  thus  :— 

(1)  That  the  British  railway  companies,  instead 
of  being  in  any  way  hostile  to  British  agriculture, 
are  profoundly  interested  in  its  welfare,  for  many 
reasons,  apart  from  the  amount  of  agricultural 
produce  given  to  them  to  carry. 

(2)  That  they  have  already  offered,  and  are 
continuing  to  offer,  abundant  evidence  of  their 
willingness  to  do  all  they  can  to  help  the  farmers 
— short  of  granting  rates  and  conditions  which 
would   render    their   operations   altogether  un- 
remunerative — and  that  what  they  now  ask  is 
that  the  farmers,  in  their  turn,  should  meet  them 
half-way,  and  so  organize  their  business  as  to 
either   avail   themselves   of  advantages  already 
open  to  them,  or  to  be  in  a  position  to  present 
a  stronger  case  when  they  advance  further  sug- 
gestions. 

(3)  That  in  foreign  countries  changes  in  agri- 
cultural  methods   and   a   widespread   resort  to 
combination  have  brought  about  remarkable  im- 
provements in  agricultural  conditions  ;  so  that  if 
the  British  farmer  wishes  to  compete  successfully 
with  foreign  produce  he  must  be  prepared  to 
conduct  his  operations,  as  far  as  possible,  on  the 
same  lines,  and  not  content  himself  with  cherish- 
ing grievances  against  the  railways  because  they 


WHAT   SHOULD   BE   DONE  391 

do  not  quote  wholesale  rates  for  the  transport  of 
retail  lots. 

(4)  That  there  is,  at  last,  a  prospect  of  England 
attaining  to  a  practical  scheme  of  agricultural 
combination  on  the  lines  successfully  resorted  to 
by  foreign  countries  ten,  twenty,  or  even  five- 
and-twenty  years  ago,  and  that  much  more  good 
is  likely  to  result  from  encouragement  of  these 
efforts,  and  from  a  genuine  attempt  on  the  part 
of  the  farmers  both  to  co-operate  among  them- 
selves and  to  adapt  their  methods  to  railway 
conditions,  than  would  follow  merely  from  a 
blind  persistence  in  unreasonable  complaints  and 
more  or  less  unfounded  allegations. 


INDEX 


AALSMEER,  WINTER  AGRICULTURAL  SCHOOL  AT  :  1 28 

AGRICULTURAL  ORGANIZATION  SOCIETY  :  Formation,  295 ;  objects,  296-7 ; 
local  societies,  297-9 ;  central  body  non-political,  299-300 ;  action 
respecting  County  Councils,  313-14;  German  writer's  reference  to, 
323  ;  support  of,  recommended,  370  ;  policy  of,  371-2  ;  a  suggested 
federation,  380-1 

AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETIES,  OLDER  TYPE  or  :  60,  89,  157,  241,  243,  253-5, 
289,  382-3 

ALBUMEN  FACTORIES  :  20 

APRICOT-GROWERS,  COMBINATION  or  :  68 

ARGENTINA  :  Results  of  financial  crisis,  236 ;  railway  development, 
237 ;  butter-making  by  Basques,  237  ;  organization  of  the  dairy 
industry,  238 

ASPATRIA  (Cumberland)  AGRICULTURAL  CO-OPERATIVE  SOCIETY  :  290, 
300 

AUSTRALASIA  :  Agricultural  conditions  in  the  past,  258-9 ;  refrigera- 
tion, 259-61  ;  agricultural  education,  261-2  ;  agricultural  credit, 
262-5  ;  results,  266 ;  effect  on  urban  industries,  266 ;  drawbacks, 
267-8 

AUSTRALIA  :  Drought  in,  benefits  Argentina,  236 

AUSTRIA:  Eggs  from,  16;  abnormal  development  of  State  aid,  165-8; 
views  of  Die  Genossenschaft,  167-8 ;  conditions  in  the  Trentino 
District,  168-9  5  Austrian  bureaucracy  undesirable  in  England,  385 

BACON  :  Danish  factories,  31-4 ;  decrease  in  Swedish  supplies,  177 ; 

factory  in  Belgrade,  213 
BANANAS,  TRAFFIC  IN  (United  States) :  234 
BANK,  PEASANTS'  (State) :  In  Poland,  216 
BANKS,  CO-OPERATIVE  CREDIT  :  In  Germany,  47-51  ;  Belgium,  91,  99  ; 

Italy,  110-24;  Holland,  139;  Hungary,  141-53;  Austria,  165,  169; 

Switzerland,   174;  Finland,   191-3;   Servia,   210-11;   Luxemburg, 

223  ;  Ireland,  273-7  ;  England,  296,  310-12,  375-80 
BANKS,  RAIFFEISEN  :  49,  91,  99,  113,  139,  145,  165,  169,  174,  210,  311 
BANKS,  SAVINGS:  110-14,  379 

2  c  2  393 


394  INDEX 

BANKS,  SCHULZE-DELITZSCH  :  49,  1 1 1 

BEE-KEEPERS'  SOCIETIES  :  Denmark,  36 ;  France,  67 ;  Belgium,  92  ; 
Ireland,  273,  283 

BEETROOT,  CULTIVATION  or :  45,  52,  67 

BELGIUM  :  Railway  rates,  5  ;  an  agricultural  awakening,  88  ;  Cornices 
Agricoles,  89 ;  statistics  of  local  agricultural  societies,  89-92 ; 
clergy  and  co-operation,  93-103  ;  attempt  to  check  Socialist  propa- 
ganda, 94-5  ;  Peasants'  Guilds,  97 ;  the  Boerenbond,  98  ;  action 
of  Belgian  Government,  99-101  ;  dairy  industry,  100 ;  results  of 
the  movement,  102-4;  Belgian  vegetables  for  London  markets, 

374 

BERGER,  M.  L'ABBE  :  99 
BEVERWIJK,  FRUIT-GROWING  AT  :  134 
BEWDLEY  CO-OPERATIVE  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY  :  302 
BIRD  SOCIETIES  :  92 
BLACKBERRIES  :  79-83 
BOARD  or  AGRICULTURE  :  315,  383-5,  389 

BOARD  or  EDUCATION  AND  AGRICULTURAL  CO-OPERATION  :  313,  314-15 
BOERENBOND  :  90,  91,  98 
BONUS  SYSTEM  (Australasia) :  262 
BOSKOOP,  WINTER  AGRICULTURAL  SCHOOL  AT  :  126-7 
"  Box  SYSTEM  "  OF  CONSIGNMENT  :  330-1,  339 
BRASSEY,  MR.  T.  A.  :  296 
BRIGSTOCKE,  MR.  AUGUSTUS  :  310,  386 
BRITISH  PRODUCE  SUPPLY  ASSOCIATION  :  291-4,  332 
"  BUCKS  ARRANGEMENT,"  THE  :  355-9 
BULGARIA  :  Trade  in  Eggs  with  Belgium,  19 
BUTTER:  Danish,  28-31,  204-6;   French,  74-6,  85,  86;   Dutch,  131, 

136-8 ;  Swedish,  177-8,  179-80 ;  Finnish,  186 ;  Siberian,  197-206 ; 

"Confectioner's,"  204-5;    Argentine,   237-9;    Australasian,  258, 

267-8;  English,  318,  358;  Irish,  360-3 

"  CABBAGE  TRAIN  "  (Holland) :  136 

CANADA  :  Improvement  of  agricultural  position  in  Ontario,  240 ; 
Farmers'  Institutes,  241-8 ;  Women's  Institutes,  249-52 ;  Agri- 
cultural Societies,  241-3,  252-5  ;  position  in  New  Brunswick,  255-57 

CAPER-GROWERS,  COMBINATION  or  :  67-8 

CATHOLIC  AGRICULTURAL  UNION  OF  LOMBARDY  :  119 

CATTLE-BREEDING  :  In  Denmark,  38 ;  Germany,  55 ;  Belgium,  92  ; 
Italy,  121  ;  Sweden,  179;  Finland,  186 ;  Poland,  218;  Great 
Britain,  317 

CATTLE-CONSULTANT  (Finland) :  186 

CATTLE,  SOCIETIES  FOR  THE  SALE  OF  (Germany) :  55 

CAUDERLIER,  M.  :   103 


INDEX  395 

CAULIFLOWERS:  84,  85,  121,  134-6 

CENTRAL  ASSOCIATION  or  CO-OPERATIVE  BACON-CURERS  (Denmark) :  34 

CENTRAL  CO-OPERATIVE  CREAMERY  SOCIETY  (Budapest) :  154-5,  339 

CHARLETON,  MR.  W.  L.  :  295,'  305 

CHEESE-MAKING,  CO-OPERATIVE  :  298,  306-7 

CHE3HSTRY,  AGRICULTURAL:  43,  46,  60,  no,  128,  226-7 

CHESTNUTS  :  86 

CIDER-MAKERS'  SOCIETIES  (France) :  66 

CLERGY  AND  AGRICULTURAL  ORGANIZATION:  In  Belgium,  93-102  ;  Italy, 
105,  118-20;  Holland,  139;  Ireland,  288;  England,  303-4 

COMICES  AGRICOLES  (Belgium) :  89 

CONCILIATION  AND  ARBITRATION  BOARDS  :  73,  212-3 

CONFEDERATION  OF  DUTCH  CO-OPERATIVE  CREAMERIES  :  137 

COOK,  PROF.  A.  J.  :  248 

COOKE,  MR,  HENRY  :  206 

CO-OPERATIVE  AGRICULTURAL  ASSOCIATIONS.  See  under  different  coun- 
tries 

CO-OPERATIVE  BANKS  ASSOCIATION  :  311,  376,  380 

CO-OPERATIVE  BUTTER  EXPORT  ASSOCIATION  (Friesland):  137 

CO-OPERATIVE  STORES  :  151,  157,  173-4 

CORN-ELEVATORS,  CO-OPERATIVE  (Hungary) :  157-9 

CORPS  DES  AGRONOMES  (Belgium)  :  100 

COUNTY  COUNCILS  AND  AGRICULTURE  :  In  Canada,  244,  245 ;  England, 
3i3-i5>  386-9 

COURT  OF  GOOD  MEN  (Servia) :  212-3 

COUTURIAUX,  M.  L'ABBE:  101 

CREAM-MAKING  AT  CHERBOURG  :  76-7 

CREDIT,  AGRICULTURAL:  Australasia,  262-5.    See  also  under  "Banks" 

DAIRIES,  CO-OPERATIVE  :  In  Denmark,  30-1  ;  Germany,  52  ;  France, 
74;  Belgium,  90,  92,  100 ;  Italy,  105,  121,  122,  124;  Holland, 
136-8;  Hungary,  157;  Switzerland,  174;  Sweden,  178-80;  Fin- 
land, 185-7,  193>  Siberia,  197-202;  Poland,  218;  Luxemburg,  222; 
United  States,  233  ;  Argentina,  237-9  5  Australasia,  267 ;  Ireland, 
269,  270,  272,  280,  283,  285 ;  England,  303,  305-6,  318 

DAIRIES,  TRAVELLING  :  100,  387-8 

DALGAS,  COL.:  27 

DANISH  HEATH  SOCIETY  :  28 

DANSK  ANDELS  AEG-EXPORT  :  35 

DENMARK  :  Railway  rates,  6 ;  eggs  from,  19 ;  Danish  v.  Cornish 
methods,  23-4;  economic  crisis  in,  25-9;  dairy  industry,  28-31  ; 
bacon-curing  factories,  31-4;  egg-export,  35-6;  poultry  societies, 
36 ;  bee  societies,  36 ;  live-stock  insurance,  36-7 ;  operation  of 
societies,  37 ;  agricultural  associations,  37-8 ;  agricultural  labourers, 


396  INDEX 

38-9 ;  results  of  movement,  39-40 ;  Danish  and  French  methods 
compared,  74-5  ;  effect  of  Danish  competition  on  Belgium,  100  ; 
on  Holland,  125;  Danish  methods  adopted  in  Finland,  185;  Danish 
enterprise  in  Siberia,  199-202 ;  butter  exports  from  Siberia  to  Den- 
mark, 204-6  ;  Danish  v.  Irish  methods,  360-3 

DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE  AND  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION  FOR  IRE- 
LAND :  271-2 

DEPRESSION,  AGRICULTURAL.     See  under  "  Economic  Crises  " 

Die  Genossenscliaft :  167-8,  385 

DISTILLERY  SOCIETIES  :  In  Germany,  56  ;  France,  67 

DOUGLAS,  MR.  THEOBALD  :  373-5 

DRAINAGE  AND  IRRIGATION,  CO-OPERATIVE  :  53,  56 

DRUNKENNESS,  CHECK  GIVEN  TO  (Hungary) :  151 

DRYDEN,  HON.  JOHN  :  253-5 

DUCKS  (Aylesbury) :  355-8 

DYMOND,  MR.  T.  S.:  156-7 

ECONOMIC  CRISES  :  In  Denmark,  26  ;  Germany,  41-2  ;  France,  59-60  ; 
Belgium,  88;  Italy,  108-10;  Holland,  125;  Switzerland,  170-1; 
Finland,  184-85;  Poland,  216;  Argentina,  236;  Australasia, 
258-59  5  Ireland,  270;  England,  316-17,  319 

EDUCATION,  AGRICULTURAL.     See  under  "  Instruction  " 

EGGS:  British  farmer  and  new-laid  eggs,  13-16,  22;  imports  from 
France,  13;  French  methods,  13,  77-9;  trade  in  foreign  eggs, 
16-23;  eggs  used  for  industrial  purposes,  20-1 ;  Cornish  egg-trade, 
23-4 ;  Danish  methods,  23-4,  35  ;  egg  societies  in  Germany,  55 ; 
exports  from  St.  Malo,  86;  eggs  from  Italy,  19,  121  ;  egg  societies 
in  Hungary,  156,  157;  in  Sweden,  179;  eggs  from  Servia,  214; 
Ireland,  273 

EGYFI-,  EGGS  FROM  :  19 

EMLYN  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY  (Wales) :  309 

ENGLAND:  Agricultural  organization  in  its  infancy,  289-90;  National 
Agricultural  Union,  290-1,  295;  British  Produce  Supply  Associa- 
tion, 291-4 ;  Agricultural  Organization  Society  formed,  295 ; 
objects,  296-7  ;  present  strength,  297  ;  character  of  societies,  297- 
307;  agricultural  credit,  310;  Co-operative  Banks  Association, 
3ii>  376,  380  ;  National  Poultry  Organization  Society,  15,  302,  313  ; 
position  of  County  Councils,  313-15,  386-9  ;  Board  of  Agriculture, 
3T5>  383~5>  389;  German  view  of  English  agriculture,  316-26; 
attitude  of  railway  companies,  327-63 ;  Agricultural  Organization 
Society  deserving  of  support,  370-2 ;  need  for  agricultural  credit, 
375-80;  scope  for  Farmers'  and  Women's  Institutes,  381-2;  re- 
construction of  agricultural  societies,  382-3  ;  expansion  of  agricul- 
tural education,  385-9 


INDEX  397 

ESSEX  FARMERS,  VISIT  OF,  TO  HUNGARY  :  164 
EYRE,  THE  REV.  G.  F.  :  303-4 

FAR  FOREST  (Worcestershire)  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY  :  303 

FAR  FOREST  PURE  WATER  SUPPLY  ASSOCIATION  :  304 

FARMER,  BRITISH  AND  CONTINENTAL  TYPE  COMPARED  :  367-8 

FARMERS,  "GENTLEMEN":  319-20,  385 

FARJIEHS,  "WORKING":  319-20,  385 

FERTILIZERS  :  Beneficial  use  of,  45,  60,  86,  96-7,  101,  no,  122,  171,  374  ; 
increasing  use  of,  65,  278,  375  ;  adulterated  or  inferior  qualities, 
61,  101,  278;  cheaper  rates  through  combined  purchase,  65,  97, 
101,  217,  222,  278;  expert  advice  respecting,  224,  374 

FINLAND  :  Geographical  conditions,  183-4  >  an  agricultural  crisis,  184  ; 
dairy  products  succeed  rye,  185  ;  exports  to  Great  Britain,  186-7  ; 
early  days  of  combination  movement,  187-9  5  Pellervo  started,  190; 
Central  Co-operative  Commercial  Bureau,  191 ;  Central  Co-operative 
Credit  Bank,  192  ;  impetus  to  agricultural  co-operative  societies, 
193  ;  operations  of  Pellervo,  194  ;  results,  195 

FISCAL  PROBLEM  :  10,  206-7 

FISH,  MR.  STUYVESANT  :  226,  234 

FLAX  SOCIETIES  (Ireland) :  273,  283 

FOOD  SUPPLIES,  EFFECT  OF  RAILWAY  RATES  ON  :  351 

FOOT  AND  MOUTH  DISEASE  (Argentina) :  236,  238 

FRAMLINGHAM  AGRICULTURAL  CO-OPERATIVE  SOCIETY  :  301 

FRANCE  :  Railway  rates,  5-6 ;  change  in  agricultural  conditions,  58-60 ; 
early  days  of  Syndicats  Agricoles,  60- 1  ;  growth  of,  61-2  ;  Union 
Centrale,  62  ;  Societe  des  Agriculteurs,  62  ;  provincial  federations, 
63 ;  Syndicat  Centrale,  64 ;  Syndicat  Economique  Agricole,  66 ; 
Syndicat  d'Industrie  Agricole,  66  ;  various,  67-72  ;  educational 
work,  72  ;  social  results,  73 ;  dairy  industry,  74-7 ;  eggs,  77-9 ; 
blackberries,  79-81  ;  gooseberries,  83  ;  potatoes,  83  ;  cauliflowers, 
84  ;  butter,  85  ;  exports  from  St.  Malo,  86 

FRIENDLY  SOCIETIES'  ACT  .-311 

FROST,  PROTECTION  OF  VINES  AGAINST  :  70 

FRUIT:  56,  68,  86,  134,  162,  219,  223,  226-34,  261,  267,  273,  319 

GALICIA  :  Eggs  from,  16,  17,  18,  22 

GARDNER,  MRS.  J.  :  251 

GERHARD,  DR.  HANNES  :  187,  188,  190 

GENERAL  CONSIGNEE,  THE  (United  States) :  230 

GERMANY  :  State  ownership  of  railways,  4-5  ;  agricultural  conditions, 

41-2  ;  agricultural  instruction,  42-5  ;  science  and  industries,  44-6  ; 

co-operation,  47 ;   co-operative  credit  banks,  48-50 ;  agricultural 

societies,  51-3;  agricultural  unions,  54;  statistics,  55-6;  use  of 

fertilizers,  374-5 


398  INDEX 

GIBSON,  MR.  HERBERT  :  236-7 

GLASGOW  AND  SOUTH  WESTERN  RAILWAY  :  353-5 

GOOSEBERRIES  :  83 

GRANGER  SYSTEM  or  CONSIGNMENT  (United  States) :  230 

GREAT  EASTERN  RAILWAY  :  329-32 

GREAT  WESTERN  RAILWAY  :  332,  336-42 

GUETTI,  LORENZO  :  169 

GURNEY,  MR.  M.  C. :  84-5 

HAAS,  DR.:  56 

HAMILTON,  LORD  CLAUD  :  329,  330 

HANNETONAGE,  SYNDICATS  DE  :  70 

HARRISON,  DR.  JAMES  (Geelong) :  260 

HERBERT,  MR.  ARTHUR:  178 

HOLLAND:  Railway  conditions,  6,  135;  economic  crisis,  125;  Royal 
Commission,  125  ;  agricultural  and  horticultural  education,  126-9  ; 
position  of  Dutch  producers,  129-31  ;  organization  of  market- 
gardeners,  131-5;  dairy  farmers,  136-8;  agricultural  unions,  138-9; 
results,  139-40 

HOP-GROWING:  219,  378 

HOORN  (North  Holland),  LABORATORY  AT  :  129 

HORSE-BREEDING  BY  HUNGARIAN  GOVERNMENT  :  162 

HORSE-BREEDING  SOCIETIES  :  38,  67 

HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETIES  :  63 

HUDSON,  MR.  T.  J. :  226,  234 

HUNGARY  :  Organization  of  agricultural  credit,  141-9 ;  "  new  village 
life,"  149-50 ;  moral  advantages,  150-3  ;  National  Agricultural 
Society,  153 ;  National  League  of  Agricultural  Societies,  154 ; 
Central  Co-operative  Creamery,  Budapest,  154-5 ;  Hungarian 
Farmers'  Co-operative  Society,  155  ;  county  agricultural  societies, 
156-7  ;  co-operative  societies  for  the  collection  and  sale  of  corn, 
157-9 ;  agricultural  exhibition  at  Pozsony,  159 ;  relation  of  State 
to  agriculture,  160-4 

ILLINOIS  CENTRAL  RAILROAD  :  225-34 

IMPLEMENT  DEALERS,  ATTITUDE  or  :  218,  279,  305 

IMPLEMENTS,  CO-OPERATIVE  PURCHASE  or.     See  under  "  Machinery  " 

INDUSTRIAL  AND  PROVIDENT  SOCIETIES  ACT  :  297-8,  311 

INDUSTRIES,    URBAN,    AIDED   BY    AGRICULTURAL   DEVELOPMENT  :    107, 

266 
INSTRUCTION,    AGRICULTURAL  :    In    Denmark,    29 ;    Germany,   42-5 ; 

France,  72;  Belgium,  100 ;  Italy,  122;  Holland,  126-9,  138,  386; 

Sweden,  178,   180-1  ;  United   States,  226-7  >  Canada,  240,  246-8, 

253-7  ;  Australasia,  261-2  ;  Ireland,  273  ;  England,  385-9 


INDEX  399 

INSURANCE,  CO-OPERATIVE  :  Live-stock,  36,  71,  91,  223;  accident, 
71  ;  hail,  71,  218  ;  famine,  shortage  of  labour,  etc.,  211  ;  grouping 
of  policies,  70,  91 

IRELAND  :  Report  of  Department  of  Agriculture  on  Denmark,  39 ; 
report  on  Germany,  55  ;  early  days  of  agricultural  organization, 
269-70 ;  Recess  Committee,  271  ;  Department  of  Agriculture  and 
Technical  Instruction,  272  ;  co-operative  creameries,  272  ;  poultry 
societies,  273  ;  agricultural  credit  banks,  273-7  >  Agricultural 
Wholesale  Society,  277-80 ;  Co-operative  Agency  Society,  280-1  ; 
Irish  railways  and  agriculture,  281-2  ;  statistics  of  societies,  283 ; 
social  results  of  movement,  283-5  ;  tne  human  element,  285-7  ; 
the  new  harmony,  287-8 ;  Irish  example  inspires  English  action, 
295  ;  Irish  v.  Danish  dairy  methods,  360-3 

IRISH  AGRICULTURAL  ORGANIZATION  SOCIETY  :  270,  272,  283 

IRISH  AGRICULTURAL  WHOLESALE  SOCIETY  :  277-80 

IRISH  CO-OPERATIVE  AGENCY  SOCIETY  :  280-1 

ITALY:  Eggs  from,  19;  conditions  prior  to  agricultural  revival,  105-10; 
the  "  Italian  system,"  106-8  ;  organization  of  agricultural  credit, 
110-17,  122;  formation  of  agricultural  societies,  114-15;  the  travel- 
ling professor,  115-18;  action  of  Roman  Catholic  Church,  118-20; 
statistics,  120-1  ;  results,  121-4 

JAM  FACTORY  SOCIETIES  :  56,  68 

KAROLYI,  COUNT  ALEXANDER  :  144,  146 
KONIG,  MR.  F.  P.  :  51,  52 
KRAMER,  PROF.  DR.  A.  :  172 

LABOUR  BUREAUX  (France) :  73 

LABOUR  CONDITIONS  IN  AUSTRALASIA  :  268 

LABOURERS,  AGRICULTURAL  :  Societies  of,  in  Denmark,  38-9 ;  supply 

of,  in  Switzerland,  170,  in  Poland,  216 
LAND  :  Reclamation  of,  in  Denmark,  26-8  ;  Germany,  53  ;  Holland, 

127;   increasing  value  of,  France,  84;   Australasia,  266;   system 

of  tenure,  Denmark,  29;   Italy,  109;   Holland,  129-30;   Poland, 

215-16 ;  England,  323-6 

LAPLAND,  AGRICULTURAL  ORGANIZATION  ix  :  191 
LEGA  NAZIONALE  DELLE  CO-OPERATIVE  ITALIANE  :  1 19,  168 
LEVY,  DR.  HERMANN  :  316-26 
LIVESTOCK  INSURANCE.     See  under  "  Insurance  " 
LOADING  (RAILWAY  CARS)  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  :  229 
LONDON  AND  NORTH  WESTERN  RAILWAY  :  333-6,  355-63 
LONDON  AND  SOUTH  WESTERN  RAILWAY  COMPANY  :  77,  82,  343-51 


400  INDEX 

LUXEMBURG  :  Need  for  organization,  221  ;  agricultural  syndicates, 
222-3  »  establishment  of  Agricultural  Credit  Banks,  223  ;  commis- 
sion of  experts,  223 

LUZZATTI,  SlGNOR  LuiGI  :    III 

MABILLEAU,  M.  LEOPOLD:  118 

MACHINERY,  AGRICULTURAL  :  Action  of  State  in  respect  to,  223-4 

MACHINERY,  CO-OPERATIVE  PURCHASE  OF  :  36,  51,  53,  55,  56,  62,  66,  87, 

9°>  "5>  138*  211,  217,  300-1,  305,  376 
MADDOCK,  Miss  BLANCHE  :  250 
MAKINS,  COL.  :  329 

MANURES  (stable  or  town),  RAILWAY  RATES  FOR  :  352,  353-4 
MARKET-GARDENERS  :   In  France,  67,  84 ;   Belgium,  103-4  5  Holland, 

125-8,  130-5,  155-6;  United  States,  226-34;  England,  321,  324-5 
MAY-BEETLE,  WAR  AGAINST  :  70 
MEAT,  FRESH  (Holland) :  136 
MEAT,  FROZEN  (Australasia) :  259-61 
MELINE,  M. :  57 
MELLAERTS,  M.  L'ABBE  :  96-9 
MEYER,  Pio  :  169 

MIDLAND  COUNTIES  AGRICULTURAL  SUPPLY  ASSOCIATION  :  305 
MILK  SUPPLY  :  Central  Co-operative  Creamery  Society  of  Budapest, 

154-5  J  milk  supply  in  England,  298,  303,  305-6,  317,  318,  337-9, 

350-1 

MILLS,  MR.  JAMES  :  240 
MISTLETOE  :  86 
MONEY-LENDERS:    In   Italy,    109,    122,    123;    Hungary,   143-5,    X4^  5 

Servia,  208-10  ;  England,  377-8 
MONTGOMERY,  MR.  H.  DE  F.  :  55,  56 
MOROCCO,  EGGS  FROM  :  20 
MORT,  MR.  THOMAS  SUTCLIFFE  :  259-60 
MULLER,  DR.  HANS:  171 
MUSEE  SOCIAL:  57,  58,  118,  122 
MUSKHAM  (Notts)  CO-OPERATIVE  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY  :  300-1 

NATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  UNION  :  290-1,  295 

NATIONAL  POULTRY  ORGANIZATION  SOCIETY  :  15,  302,  313,  381 

NEWARK  DAIRY,  LTD.  :  305-6 

OLD-AGE  PENSIONS  (France) :  72 
ORPHANS,  SUPPORT  OF  :  72 
OWENS,  SIR  CHARLES  :  344 

PARSLEY  :  86 

PELLERVO  (Finland) :  190-5 


INDEX  401 

PHYLLOXERA  :  70,  162 

PLUNKETT,  SIR  HORACE:  269-71 

PODWOLOCZYSKA  :  Eggs  from,  17,  20  ;  albumen  factories  at,  20 

POLAND:  Landowners  and  peasants,  215-6;  shortage  of  labour,  216; 
purpose  of  agricultural  societies,  217-8  ;  fruit-growing,  219 

POTATOES  :  Germany,  45-6 ;  France,  83-5,  86 ;  England,  319 ;  Scot- 
land, 353-4 

POULTRY  :  England,  15,  319,  355-9  ;  Denmark,  36  ;  France,  78,  85,  86  ; 
Servia,  214;  Australasia,  261  ;  Ireland,  273 

PROFESSOR,  TRAVELLING  AGRICULTURAL  (Italy) :  116 

PURCHASE,  COMBINED  :  general,  8  ;  in  Denmark,  36  ;  Germany,  50-2  ; 
France,  61,  64;  Belgium,  90,  96-7,  98,  101  ;  Italy,  105,  114-15, 
121,  122;  Holland,  138;  Hungary,  150;  Switzerland,  172-4; 
Sweden,  178;  Finland,  191,  193;  Servia,  210-11  ;  Poland,  217-18; 
Luxemburg,  222 ;  Ireland,  278-80 ;  England,  296,  298,  300-3, 
372-5  ;  Wales,  307-9 

RAIFFEISEN.     See  under  "  Banks  " 

RAILWAY  RATES  :  Conditions  abroad,  4-6 ;  lower  rates  secured  by 
combination,  61,  65,  135,  139,  159;  conditions  in  Ireland,  281-2; 
England,  327-63  ;  Scotland,  353-5 

RAILWAYS  AND  THE  FARMERS  :  Friction  between,  i  ;  railway  interest  in 
rural  districts,  2  ;  question  of  quantity  and  conditions,  3  ;  identity 
of  interests,  3;  the  making  up  of  "big  loads,"  135-6,  139,  231-4, 
282,  309,  346-9;  position  in  the  United  States,  228-31  ;  effect  of 
railway  expansion  (Argentina),  237 ;  position  in  Ireland,  281-2  ; 
British  farmers  and  railway  rates,  327-8  ;  action  of  Great  Eastern 
Railway  Company,  329-32  ;  Great  Western,  332,  336-42  ;  South 
Eastern,  332 ;  London  and  North  Western,  333-6,  355-63 ;  South 
Eastern  and  Chatham,  342-3  ;  London  and  South  Western,  343- 
52  ;  Glasgow  and  South  Western,  353-5 

RAILWAYS,  CONTINENTAL  :  Germany,  4 ;  Belgium,  5  ;  France,  5-6 ; 
Holland,  6  ;  Denmark,  6 

RAYNERI,  M.  CHARLES:  118 

RECESS  COMMITTEE  (Ireland) :  271 

REFRIGERATION:  In  Australia,  259-61,  266;  Denmark  and  Ireland,  360-3 

ROCQUIGNY,  M.   LE  CoMTE  DE  :    59,    Il8 

ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AND  AGRICULTURAL  CO-OPERATION:  In 
Belgium,  93-102;  Italy,  105,  118-20;  Holland,  139;  Ireland,  288 

ROQUEVAIRE,  CAPER-GROWERS  OF  :  67-8 

RUMANIA  :  Eggs  from,  16,  18 

RURAL  LIFE,  EFFECT  OF  AGRICULTURAL  ORGANISATION  ON  :  Denmark, 
38-9;  France,  74;  Italy,  113,  123-4;  Holland,  138;  Hungary, 
149-53  ;  Canada,  250-2  ;  Ireland,  285  ;  general,  365-9 


402  INDEX 

RUSSIA:  Eggs  from,  16-19;  Russian  eggs  for  Denmark,  35 ;  competes 

with  Finland,  184.     See  also  "  Siberia  " 
RUTLAND,  THE  DUKE  OF  :  307 
RYE,  A  CRISIS  IN  (Finland) :  184-5 

SALE,  COLLECTIVE  :  In  Denmark,  32,  35 ;  Germany,  51,  55  ;  France, 
64,  67,  68-9;  Italy,  121  ;  Holland,  131-8;  Hungary,  154-9; 
Switzerland,  174 ;  Luxemburg,  223 ;  Ireland,  280-1  ;  England, 
291-4,  296,  298,  302,  303,  305-7,  372 ;  Wales,  308-9 

SANSEVERO,  VINEYARDS  AT:  122 

SCALFORD  DAIRY,  LIMITED  :  306 

SCHOU,  MR.  RUDOLF  :  26 

SCHULZE-DELITZSCH.     See  under  "  Banks  " 

SCIENCE  AND  AGRICULTURE  :  43,  46,  60,  181-2,  226-7,  26i>  270 

SCOTCH  FARMERS  IN  ESSEX  :  321 

SCOTLAND  :  Potato-growing  at  Girvan,  353-4 ;  lower  rates  to  agri- 
culturists in  Wigtonshire,  etc. ,  355 

SEEDS,  BAD  :  In  Canada,  248  ;  Ireland,  278  ;  Wales,  278 

SEGELCKE,  PROF.  T.  R.  :  26 

SERVIA  :  Financial  troubles  of  farmers,  208-10 ;  village  banks,  210-11  ; 
co-operative  agricultural  societies,  212  ;  the  "  Court  of  Good  Men," 
212-13  ;  exports  to  Great  Britain,  213-14 

SIBERIA  :  Eggs  from,  17,  22  ;  dimensions  of  dairy  industry,  197-8 ; 
growth  of,  198-200  ;  difficulties,  201  ;  export  arrangements,  202-4  ; 
qualities,  204-5  5  future  outlook,  206 ;  attitude  of  peasantry 
towards  British,  206-7  >  expansion  due  to  organization,  207 

SICK,  INDIGENT,  RELIEF  OF  (France) :  73 

SOCIALISM  :  Check  of,  by  agricultural  organization,  in  France,  73 ; 
Belgium,  93-5,  102;  Italy,  119 

SOUTH  EASTERN  RAILWAY  :  332 

SOUTH  EASTERN  AND  CHATHAM  RAILWAY  :  342 

STATE  AID:  In  Denmark,  34,  36,  38;  Belgium,  93,  100;  Italy,  124; 
Holland,  125-9,  I39>  Hungary,  139,  160-4;  Austria,  165-8; 
Finland,  186,  190,  194;  Poland,  219;  Canada,  244-8,  256; 
Australasia,  261-5;  England,  315,  383 

SWEDEN  AND  NORWAY:  Sweden  and  Denmark  compared,  176-7; 
co-operative  methods,  178 ;  position  of  dairy  industry,  178-9 ; 
purchase  societies,  179 ;  agricultural  societies  and  their  work. 
179-80;  agricultural  education,  180-1;  co-operation  in  Norway, 
182 

SWITZERLAND:  An  economic  crisis,  170-1;  need  for  combination, 
171-2 ;  local  organizations  and  district  federations,  172 ;  co- 
operative stores,  173  ;  check  to  full  expansion  of  movement,  174-5 

SYNDICATS  AGRICOLES,  ORIGIN  or :  58-63 


INDEX  403 

TARIFFS,  PROTECTIVE  :  In  Germany,  42  ;  France,  85  ;  Sweden,  177  ; 

Poland,  216 

TEMPLETOWN,  LORD  :  295 
THRIFT:  Italian  ideas  on,  106-8 

TRADERS  AND  AGRICULTURAL  CO-OPERATION:  173,  218,  279,  305,  373-5 
TRENTINO  DISTRICT,  CONDITIONS  IN  :  168-9 

UNITED  STATES,  THE:  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  225-6;  growth  of 
trade  in  market-garden  produce,  226-8 ;  railway  arrangements, 
228-9;  need  for  organizations,  229;  basis  on  which  operated,  230-1 ; 
traffic  statistics,  232-3 ;  change  in  Southern  production,  233 ; 
Farmers'  Institutes,  243 

VALE  OF  TIVY  (Wales)  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY  :  308 
VARLEZ,  M.  Louis  :  88 

WAGENINGEN,  STATE  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE  AT  :  1 26 

WALES  :  Welsh  Farmers'  Federation,  307 ;  number  of  local  societies, 
307 ;  attitude  of  Welsh  farmers,  308 ;  examples  of  local  societies, 
308-9 ;  large  contracts,  309 ;  lectures  at  University  College, 
Aberystwyth,  310 

WALLEMBORG,  SIGNOR  :  112 

WESTLAND  DISTRICT  (Holland)  :  130,  133 

WHEAT-GROWING:  26,  42,  59,  85,  125,  157-9,  2I9>  319-20 

WILLIAMS,  PROF.  D.  D.:  310 

WINCHILSEA,  LORD  :  290-4,  295,  329,  332 

WINE-GROWERS' SOCIETIES  :  53,  55,  67,  121,  154 

WOMEN'S  INSTITUTES  :  248-52,  381-2 

WORCESTERSHIRE,  AGRICULTURAL  ORGANIZATION  IN  :  302-5 

WORCESTERSHIRE  CHAMBER  OF  AGRICULTURE  :  305 

YERBURGH,  MR.  R.  A.,  M.P.:  295,  296 

ZUIDER  ZEE,  THE:  "Cabbage  Train"  from  shores  of,  136;  new  life 
in  the  "  Dead  Cities,"  139 


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